MARK
MARK TOMORROW TWO WEEKS AFTER HITTING THE 50,000 MARK ON JUNE
21st.
21st.
21st. >>>
21st. >>> OUR 12 NEWS POLITICS TALK
SHOW SUNDAY SQUARE OFF WILL BE
RETURNING TO ITS REGULAR 8:00
A.M.
A.M.
A.M. TIME
A.M. TIME SLOT NEXT WEEKEND.
THE SHOW HAS BEEN ON A HIATUS
FOR THE LAST FEW MONTHS.
RIGHT NOW THOUSANDS IN ARIZONA
ARE HAVING A TOUGH TIME GETTING
THEIR JOBLESS BENEFITS.
GRAHAM RESNICK JOINS US WITH
HOW CROOKS ARE MESSING WITH THE
SYSTEM.
SYSTEM.
SYSTEM. TAKE A LOOK.
>> Reporter: THOUSANDS OF
PEOPLE IN ARIZONA WHO ARE
SUPPOSED TO GET UNEMPLOYMENT
BENEFITS AREN'T.
BENEFITS AREN'T. AND NOW THOUSANDS WHO SHOULDN'T
BE GETTING THE BENEFITS ARE.
THE PANDEMIC HAS OVERWHELMED
ARIZONA'S SYSTEM FOR PAYING OUT
BENEFITS.
BENEFITS.
BENEFITS. CROOKS ARE TRYING TO STEAL
THOSE BENEFITS.
THOSE BENEFITS. THE ARIZONA WE PUBLIC HAS
CLOSELY COVERED OUR
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE SYSTEM
FOR MONTHS NOW.
HE JOINS US TO EXPLAIN WHAT IS
GOING ON.
GOING ON.
GOING ON. SO, RYAN, HOW SERIOUS IS THIS
FRAUD PROBLEM?
FRAUD PROBLEM? >> IT IS PRETTY DARN SERIOUS IF
YOU ARE SOMEONE WHO IS WAITING
TO GET YOUR BENEFITS AND IT IS
BEING HELD UP WHILE DES HAS TO
INVESTIGATE WHETHER IT IS A
FRAUDULENT CLAIM OR NOT.
THERE IS PROBABLY 100,000
PEOPLE IN THE STATE WHO QUALIFY
FOR BENEFITS, HAVE DONE
EVERYTHING RIGHT, BUT THEIR
MONEY IS BEING HELD UP WHILE IT
IS VERIFIED THAT THEY ARE NOT A
FRAUDSTER.
FRAUDSTER. SO IT IS VERY SERIOUS ON THAT
END.
END.
END. WHAT
END. WHAT WE DON'T KNOW, IS HOW MUCH
MONEY THE STATE HAS LOST TO
FRAUD.
FRAUD.
FRAUD. IN
FRAUD. IN SEATTLE, OR WASHINGTON
STATE, RATHER, THE OFFICIALS
THERE ESTIMATE THEY HAVE LOST
CLOSE TO A BILLION DOLLARS IN
STATE AND FEDERAL FUNDS TO
FRAUD.
FRAUD.
FRAUD. AND WE HAVEN'T HEARD WHAT THAT
FIGURE MIGHT BE IN ARIZONA.
>>> AND THIS IS GOING ON AROUND
THE COUNTRY.
THE COUNTRY. HAS ARIZONA BEEN HIT BY
ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE?
>> WELL, UNEMPLOYMENT FRAUD IS
A PRETTY POPULAR CRIME, EVEN
BEFORE THE PANDEMIC.
BECAUSE IT IS VERY SIMPLE TO
APPLY FOR UNEMPLOYMENT
BENEFITS.
BENEFITS.
BENEFITS. AND SO, UNSOPHISTICATED
CRIMINALS CAN APPLY FOR
BENEFITS, EVEN FOR THEMSELVES,
WHEN THEY DON'T ACTUALLY
QUALIFY OR HAVEN'T BEEN FIRED,
OR THEY CAN APPLY FOR YOU KNOW,
A FRIEND OR RELATIVE AND GET
THE MONEY SENT TO THEM.
SO IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME, AND
THEY ARE CONSTANTLY PROSECUTING
INDIVIDUALS FOR FRAUD.
BUT WHEN THE PANDEMIC STRUCK
AND CONGRESS ADDED $600 A WEEK
TO PEOPLE'S BENEFITS ACROSS THE
COUNTRY, MORE SOPHISTICATED
FRAUD RINGS STARTED TARGETING
THE UNITED STATES.
THEY WENT FIRST AT PLACES THAT
PAY MORE PER WEEK.
ARIZONA HAS THE SECOND LOWEST
WEEKLY PAYMENT IN THE COUNTRY.
THERE IS ANOTHER $600 ON TOP OF
THAT, BUT THE FRAUD RINGS
REALLY TARGETED STATES LAKE
WASHINGTON, WHERE YOU GET YOU
KNOW, $1200 A WEEK NOW WITH THE
FEDERAL BENEFITS.
FEDERAL BENEFITS. BUT IT SEEMS THAT THEY HAVE
BEGUN TO TARGET ALL THE OTHER
STATES AS WELL.
>>> EXPLAIN HOW THIS FRAUD
TYPICALLY WORKS.
TYPICALLY WORKS. HOW WE SEE IT.
PEOPLE THAT DID NOT LOSE THEIR
JOB GO TO THEIR MAILBOX ONE DAY
AND THERE IS A DEBIT CARD WITH
$800 OR $1500 ON IT.
AND THEY DIDN'T APPLY.
AND THEY HAVE BEEN CALLING TO
FIGURE OUT WHAT IS GOING ON.
THAT IS HOW WE GOT WIND THIS
WAS SO WIDESPREAD.
I PROBABLY GOT HALF A DOZEN
PEOPLE CONTACTED ME IN THE LAST
WEEK.
WEEK.
WEEK. >>>
WEEK. >>> SO WHAT IS HAPPENING IS,
THEIR IDENTITY WAS STOLEN
SOMEWHERE, THROUGH A BREACH OR
SOMETHING FOR THE PAST DECADE
AND THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE THAT
DATA ARE NOW JUST APPLYING BY
THE THOUSANDS FOR JOBLESS
BENEFITS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
HOPING THAT WILL SLIP UP AND
PAY THE WRONG PERSON.
ACTUALLY THE CARD GETS MAILED
TO THE ACTUAL PERSON WHOSE
IDENTITY IS BEING STOLEN.
SO WE ARE SEEING A SMALL SLIVER
OF THIS AND SEEING THE FAILED
ATTEMPTS.
ATTEMPTS.
ATTEMPTS. THAT IS HOW WE KNOW WHAT IS
GOING ON.
GOING ON.
GOING ON. >>> WHAT WE ARE SEEING ARE
PEOPLE RECEIVING DEBIT CARDS.
YOU GET A CARD.
A PLASTIC CARD THAT IS ALREADY
LOADED WITH CATCH.
IT COULD BE $1000, $2000, $3000
OR MORE.
OR MORE.
OR MORE. SHOULD FOLKS WHO GET THOSE
CARDS TRY TO USE THEM?
>> NO, YOU SHOULD NOT PROBABLY
YOU WOULD NOT GET PROSECUTED,
IF THEY CAN PROVE SOMEONE ELSE
APPLIED FOR THOSE BENEFITS IN
YOUR NAME.
YOUR NAME. BUT IF YOU DID NOT APPLY FOR
UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS, YOU
SHOULD NOT SPEND THAT MONEY.
YOU WILL DEFINITELY BE ASKED TO
PAY IT BACK AT SOME POINT.
SO THE BEST THING TO DO IS TO
REPORT IT.
REPORT IT. YOU CAN REPORT FRAUD ONLINE, AT
THE WEBSITE, AND I WOULD NOT
SPEND THAT MONEY IF YOU DIDN'T
APPLY FOR IT.
>>> AND THERE IS ANOTHER
PROBLEM THIS CREATES WHICH IS
ACTUALLY UNDERSTANDING HOW MANY
PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY UNEMPLOYED.
BECAUSE THESE FRAUDSTERS MIGHT
SHOW UP IN THE JOBLESS CLAIMS,
ISN'T THAT CORRECT?
>> YEAH.
>> YEAH.
>> YEAH. THE STATE REPORTS WEEKLY
JOBLESS CLAIMS ON MONDAYS.
AND THE FIGURES HAVE BEEN JUST
WHIPSAWING UP AND DOWN AND THEN
THEY GET REVISED A WEEK LATER.
TO PUT IT SIMPLY, THE NUMBERS
DON'T MAKE SENSE.
THERE IS ABOUT A QUARTER
MILLION PEOPLE WHO CONTINUE TO
GET JOBLESS BENEFITS EVERY
WEEK.
WEEK.
WEEK. BUT
WEEK. BUT THERE IS WAY MORE INITIAL
APPLICATIONS COMING IN.
ALMOST 200,000 APPLICATIONS A
WEEK, FOR BENEFITS, AND THAT
JUST DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.
SO I'M CURIOUS AS TO WHETHER
THE FRAUD IS SO RAMPANT THAT IT
IS SKEWING THE WEEKLY FIGURES
THAT ECONOMISTS USE TO TRY AND
GAUGE THE HEALTH OF THE STATE'S
ECONOMY.
ECONOMY.
ECONOMY. >>> WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT HOW
THEY ARE FIGHTING THIS?
>> WELL, THEY HAVE HIRED
INVESTIGATORS.
INVESTIGATORS. THEY NEED WAY MORE THAN THEY DO
IN REGULAR TIMES.
A BUSY WEEK USED TO BE 4000
APPLICATIONS AND MAY BE PAYING
$3 MILLION IN BENEFITS.
NOW THEY ARE SEEING 100,000
APPLICATIONS A WEEK.
AND YOU KNOW, THEY HAVE PAID $5
BILLION IN THE PAST FEW MONTHS.
SO THEY ARE DEFINITELY
OVERLOADED, AND THEY NEEDED TO
BEEF-UP THEIR STAFF.
THEY HAVE HIRED PEOPLE, THEY
HAVE BEGUN TO TRY AND TRACK
THESE THINGS FORENSICALLY
THROUGH JUST DATA ANALYSIS ON
WHERE THE APPLICATIONS ARE
COMING FROM.
COMING FROM. I SPOKE WITH ONE MAN THIS KEEP
WHO WAS GETTING UNEMPLOYMENT
BENEFITS.
BENEFITS.
BENEFITS. HE QUALIFIED, HE HAS BEEN
GETTING THEM FOR WEEKS.
AND ALL OF A SUDDEN HIS PAYMENT
STOPPED.
STOPPED.
STOPPED. HE TRIED TO CALL.
IT IS VERY CHALLENGING TO GET
THROUGH.
THROUGH.
THROUGH. WHEN HE FINALLY REACHED AN
EMPLOYEE, THEY TOLD HIM HIS
MONEY HAD BEEN HELD UP BECAUSE
HE FILED A WEEKLY CLAIM FROM A
CALIFORNIA PHONE NUMBER.
NOW THIS MAN PREVIOUSLY LIVED
IN CALIFORNIA.
IN CALIFORNIA. HE HAS LIVED IN ARIZONA FOR
SEVERAL YEARS.
SEVERAL YEARS. HE APPLIED FOR BENEFITS USING
HIS PHONE, WHICH HAS A
CALIFORNIA NUMBER, STILL.
AND THEY APPROVED IT, BUT
SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE AN
INVESTIGATOR OR A SOFTWARE
PROGRAM THEY ARE USING FLAGGED
HIS ACCOUNT.
HIS ACCOUNT. SO NOW HE HASN'T BEEN PAID IN
TWO WEEKS BECAUSE THEY NEED TO
CLEAR HIS ACCOUNT AND MAKE SURE
HE IS NOT COMMITTING FRAUD.
I SPOKE WITH THE MAN.
I TRUST HE IS NOT COMMITTING
FRAUD, BECAUSE IT WOULD NOT BE
SMART TO CALL THE MEDIA AND
REPORT THAT.
REPORT THAT. BUT HE IS JUST ONE EXAMPLE OF
SOMEONE WHO IS BEING HARMED BY
THE FRAUD THAT IS BEING
COMMITTED.
COMMITTED. >>> RYAN, KEEP UP THE GREAT
REPORTING.
REPORTING. THANKS SO MUCH FOR JOINING US.
>>> THANKS A LOT.
TAKE CARE.
TAKE CARE. >>> THANKS A