Roy Dotson, National Pandemic Fraud Recovery Coordinator.
The United States Secret Service (USSS) estimates that almost 100 billion dollars have been defrauded in connection with the aid granted by the Government to companies and citizens of the country due to the covid-19 pandemic.
“The Secret Service currently has more than 900 open criminal investigations into fraud specific to aid funds related to the pandemic,” explains Roy Dotson, newly appointed national pandemic fraud recovery coordinator.
In this regard, he indicated that the agency had observed a significant increase in electronic crimes related to this fraudulent activity, carried out by individuals and organized networks worldwide, who often search for their victims online.
“Selected individuals are often asked to open bank accounts and accept large deposits,” the official detailed. “As a result, people are turning into unwitting mules of stolen money,” he added.
Likewise, Dotson indicated that all the country’s states have been affected by this problem and that the USSS works to recover the money stolen from both federal and state program funds.
The US Secret Service has developed a national network of cyber fraud task forces to do this.