The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic has tallied up a total of $191 billion of fraudulent claims paid out through state unemployment insurance (UI) agencies to hackers and fraudsters – up from previous estimates that put the fraud figure closer to $100 billion. […]

Following up on efforts that began in May of this year, the General Services Administration (GSA) and Department of Labor (DoL) have expanded their partnership to now offer all states the opportunity to use Login.gov to help improve access, decrease fraud, and increase security in the delivery of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. […]

The Department of Labor (DoL) announced new IT modernization plans this week that aim to improve the unemployment insurance (UI) programs launched as part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). […]

The pandemic-fueled expansion of unemployment insurance (UI) increased opportunities for fraud, but a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that Federal agencies have yet to fully implement recommendations to ensure they are effectively managing fraud risks. […]

The Department of Labor (DOL) – which provides funding and assistance to states to run their unemployment insurance (UI) programs – remains in need of a better strategy to help prevent UI fraud in light of large-scale fraud in the program during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report today from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). […]

The Department of Labor’s (DoL) Office of Inspector General (OIG) determined that the agency – along with state workforce agencies – has paid more than $45 billion in unemployment insurance (UI) pandemic benefits to fraudsters, according to an alert memorandum published on Sept. 21. […]

House Government Operations Subcommittee Chairman Gerry Connolly, D-Va., said today he is preparing legislation that aims to reduce the Federal government’s ballooning improper payments rate – which amounted to at least $281 billion in fiscal year 2021 and was greatly exacerbated by fraud in connection with COVID-19 relief programs including unemployment insurance (UI) administered by states whose IT systems were overwhelmed by demand. […]

A group of Senate Democrats is calling for the removal of facial recognition technology in verification processes for state unemployment programs. […]

The Department of Labor (DoL) has announced up to $15 million in grants to states and territories to ensure that Americans eligible for unemployment insurance (UI) can apply and receive their benefits. […]

Now that the Federal government, via the Department of Labor (DoL), has signed up to put $2 billion of stimulus-related funding into shoring up beleaguered state unemployment insurance (UI) systems overpowered by the jobless claim surge due to coronavirus pandemic, Federal and state officials discussed how those efforts will roll out during a panel discussion at MeriTalk’s State Tech Vision virtual program on September 15. […]

The Department of Labor’s (DoL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) does not require the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) to report data on suspected unemployment insurance (UI) fraud to either the ETO or the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), according to a July 1 OIG memo. […]

The state of Wisconsin’s Department of Workforce Development (DWD) is modernizing the IT infrastructure of its unemployment insurance (UI) system in concert with the U.S. Digital Response (USDR) and the General Service Administration’s (GSA) 18F. […]

The Department of Justice (DoJ) is warning of fake unemployment websites after receiving reports that scammers created the websites to obtain consumer’s personal information and other sensitive data. […]

The House version of the American Rescue Act – born from President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief proposal unveiled in January – now features a provision that would provide $2 billion for the Department of Labor (DoL) to use to help states upgrade their unemployment insurance (UI) systems. […]

The Department of Labor’s (DoL) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report stating the agency is making progress on improving the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program, which has faced billions of dollars in widespread unemployment compensation fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic. […]

President Biden’s Labor Secretary nominee – Boston mayor Marty Walsh – emphasized that state unemployment insurance systems are in sore need of technology upgrades during testimony at a Feb. 4 confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. […]