Handcuffed man holding cash. (Photo: Thinkstock)

The Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an alert Tuesday on unemployment insurance fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Many illicit actors are engaged in fraudulent schemes that exploit vulnerabilities created by the pandemic," FinCEN said in releasing the alert, which is based on FinCEN's analysis of COVID-19 related information obtained from Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) data, open-source reporting and law enforcement partners.

Recommended For You

The advisory describes COVID-19 related UI fraud, associated financial red flag indicators and information on reporting suspicious activity.

Types of fraud detected include:

  • Fictitious employer-employee fraud: filers falsely claim they work for a legitimate company, or create a fictitious company and supply fictitious employee and wage records to apply for UI payments;
  • Employer-employee collusion fraud: the employee receives UI payments while the employer continues to pay the employee reduced, unreported wages;
  • Misrepresentation of income fraud: an individual returns to work and fails to report the income in order to continue receiving UI payments, or in an effort to receive higher UI payments, an applicant claims higher wages than he/she previously earned;
  • Insider fraud: state employees use credentials to inappropriately access or change UI claims, resulting in the approval of unqualified applications, improper payment amounts, or movement of UI funds to accounts that are not on the application; or
  • Identity-related fraud: filers submit applications for UI payments using stolen or fake identification information to perpetrate an account takeover.

FinCEN also points to numerous financial red flag indicators to alert financial institutions to fraud schemes targeting UI programs, and to assist financial institutions in detecting, preventing and reporting suspicious transactions related to such fraud.

NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Melanie Waddell

Melanie is senior editor and Washington bureau chief of ThinkAdvisor. Her ThinkAdvisor coverage zeros in on how politics, policy, legislation and regulations affect the investment advisory space. Melanie’s coverage has been cited in various lawmakers’ reports, letters and bills, and in the Labor Department’s fiduciary rule in 2024. In 2019, Melanie received an Honorable Mention, Range of Work by a Single Author award from @Folio. Melanie joined Investment Advisor magazine as New York bureau chief in 2000. She has been a columnist since 2002. She started her career in Washington in 1994, covering financial issues at American Banker. Since 1997, Melanie has been covering investment-related issues, holding senior editorial positions at American Banker publications in both Washington and New York. Briefly, she was content chief for Internet Capital Group’s EFinancialWorld in New York and wrote freelance articles for Institutional Investor. Melanie holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Towson University. She interned at The Baltimore Sun and its suburban edition.