Washington state officials admitted losing "hundreds of millions of dollars" to an international fraud scheme, originating out of Nigeria, that robbed the state’s unemployment insurance system and could mean even longer delays for thousands of jobless workers still waiting for legitimate benefits.

As the Seattle Times reported, Suzi LeVine, commissioner of the state Employment Security Department (ESD), disclosed the staggering losses during a news conference Thursday afternoon. LeVine declined to specify how much money was stolen during the scam, which she said appears to be orchestrated out of Nigeria but she conceded that the amount was "orders of magnitude above" the $1.6 million that ESD reported losing to fraudsters in April.

While LeVine said state and law enforcement officials were working to recover as much of the stolen money as possible, she declined to say how much had been returned so far. She also said the ESD had taken “a number of steps” to prevent new fraudulent claims from being filed or paid but would not specify the steps to avoid alerting criminals.

Thursday’s disclosure helped explain the unusual surge in the number of new jobless claims filed last week in Washington, which as we showed this morning was the state with the highest weekly increase in claims.

On Wednesday, the state’s monthly employment report for April showed Washington with a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 15.4%, up from 5.1% in March. The national unemployment rate for April stood at 14.7%, seasonally adjusted.

For the week ending May 16, the ESD received 138,733 initial claims for unemployment insurance, a 26.8% increase over the prior week and one of the biggest weekly surges since the coronavirus crisis began. That sharp increase came as the number of initial jobless claims nationwide fell 9.2%, to 2.4 million, according to data released earlier in the day by the Labor Department.

Indeed, the surge in claims made Washington the state with the highest percentage of its civilian labor force filing unemployment claims – at 30.8%, according to an analysis by the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan Washington, D.C., think tank. Nevada, the next-highest state, reported claims from 24.5% of its civilian workforce.

It now appears that many of those claims were fictitious and emanated from some computer in Nigeria.

The disclosure came as the state was already struggling to process an unprecedented wave of legitimate jobless claims amid one of the worst economic crises in U.S. history. Some additional delays in benefits payments to legitimate claimants are likely as the ESD subjects all claims to more scrutiny.

“This makes me the most angry, and the most upset — that we need to delay payments to Washingtonians who need the benefits,” LeVine said adding that "we need to also build in more time for analysis. So going forward, we want to set expectations that we will add an additional one to two days to our processing time."

That delay follows a decision last Thursday to temporarily suspend benefit payments for two days. The delay came after the ESD disclosed that it had seen a surge in bogus claims reportedly filed by identity thieves who appeared to be targeting the extra-generous benefits available under federal pandemic relief legislation.

That same day, the Secret Service issued an alert describing Washington as the top target so far of a Nigerian fraud ring "exploiting the COVID-19 crisis to commit large-scale fraud against state unemployment insurance programs."

It remains unclear how the fraudulent benefit payments made their way all the way to Nigeria.

Nigerians Or ......

These bad elements amongst us always have a way of making Nigeria look so bad and morally bankrupt in the global community. Exploiting a system that is set up to save the lives of people for selfish gains!

Una go think say "Oyibo no dey swear Ogun" - the repercussion that will hit y'all (the delinquents) soon eh. Karma is one introverted B!!tch

Too bad

due to high rate of unemployement and joblessness alot of our nigerian youths have decided to involve themselves in yahoo yahoo, fraud and cyber crimes all in the name of survival.

even our government that is supposed to help matters by creating jobs for our youth has not been efficient.
The n-power that was created to help the youths: up till today its just one story or the other.

the day nigerians will realise that all this get rich quick schemes, quick money and overnight wealth are not sustainable. But wealth is built through hardwork and persevarance. That is when we can truly see changes.

Nigeria are great people!

LeOstrich:
Washington state officials admitted losing "hundreds of millions of dollars" to an international fraud scheme, originating out of Nigeria, that robbed the state’s unemployment insurance system and could mean even longer delays for thousands of jobless workers still waiting for legitimate benefits.

As the Seattle Times reported, Suzi LeVine, commissioner of the state Employment Security Department (ESD), disclosed the staggering losses during a news conference Thursday afternoon. LeVine declined to specify how much money was stolen during the scam, which she said appears to be orchestrated out of Nigeria but she conceded that the amount was "orders of magnitude above" the $1.6 million that ESD reported losing to fraudsters in April.

While LeVine said state and law enforcement officials were working to recover as much of the stolen money as possible, she declined to say how much had been returned so far. She also said the ESD had taken “a number of steps” to prevent new fraudulent claims from being filed or paid but would not specify the steps to avoid alerting criminals.

Thursday’s disclosure helped explain the unusual surge in the number of new jobless claims filed last week in Washington, which as we showed this morning was the state with the highest weekly increase in claims.

On Wednesday, the state’s monthly employment report for April showed Washington with a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 15.4%, up from 5.1% in March. The national unemployment rate for April stood at 14.7%, seasonally adjusted.

For the week ending May 16, the ESD received 138,733 initial claims for unemployment insurance, a 26.8% increase over the prior week and one of the biggest weekly surges since the coronavirus crisis began. That sharp increase came as the number of initial jobless claims nationwide fell 9.2%, to 2.4 million, according to data released earlier in the day by the Labor Department.

Indeed, the surge in claims made Washington the state with the highest percentage of its civilian labor force filing unemployment claims – at 30.8%, according to an analysis by the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan Washington, D.C., think tank. Nevada, the next-highest state, reported claims from 24.5% of its civilian workforce.

It now appears that many of those claims were fictitious and emanated from some computer in Nigeria.

The disclosure came as the state was already struggling to process an unprecedented wave of legitimate jobless claims amid one of the worst economic crises in U.S. history. Some additional delays in benefits payments to legitimate claimants are likely as the ESD subjects all claims to more scrutiny.

“This makes me the most angry, and the most upset — that we need to delay payments to Washingtonians who need the benefits,” LeVine said adding that "we need to also build in more time for analysis. So going forward, we want to set expectations that we will add an additional one to two days to our processing time."

That delay follows a decision last Thursday to temporarily suspend benefit payments for two days. The delay came after the ESD disclosed that it had seen a surge in bogus claims reportedly filed by identity thieves who appeared to be targeting the extra-generous benefits available under federal pandemic relief legislation.

That same day, the Secret Service issued an alert describing Washington as the top target so far of a Nigerian fraud ring "exploiting the COVID-19 crisis to commit large-scale fraud against state unemployment insurance programs."

It remains unclear how the fraudulent benefit payments made their way all the way to Nigeria.

Nigeria my country... No wonder bill gates wants to start his covid vaccines with Nigerians.. This few criminal elements are busy rubbing the name Nigeria in the mud.. it’s well though

Venza

Stephenomozzy:
These bad elements amongst us always have a way of making Nigeria look so bad and morally bankrupt in the global economy. Exploiting a system that is set up to save the lives of people for selfish gains!

Una go think say "Oyibo no dey swear Ogun" - the repercussion that will hit y'all (the delinquents) soon eh. Karma is one introverted B!!tch

I actually support this.

Washington State is governed by ret"rded demoncrats.

Let us chop our share jare

omgtzsammie:


Nigeria my country... No wonder bill gates wants to start his covid vaccines with Nigerians.. This few criminal elements are busy rubbing the name Nigeria in the mud.. it’s well though

If you know what is good for you, start browsing any of the Demoncrat controlled states websites to apply for your CoVid-19 palliative.

If they are stupid to dash money carelessly, how does that make it a crime?

LeOstrich:


I actually support this.

Washington State is governed by ret"rded demoncrats.

Let us chop our share jare

Na so, I hope you don't forget this when you're repeatedly denied work/resident permit or even Visa sef time and time again all because you're Nigerian.

The share wey una government dey thief to same US why una norva go carry una share

We seems to be ridiculing ourselves in the face of the Americans, why not simply take a legitimate job and protect our county's integrity


As the Seattle Times reported, Suzi LeVine, commissioner of the state Employment Security Department (ESD), disclosed the staggering losses during a news conference Thursday afternoon. LeVine declined to specify how much money was stolen during the scam, which she said appears to be orchestrated out of Nigeria but she conceded that the amount was "orders of magnitude above" the $1.6 million that ESD reported losing to fraudsters in April.

While LeVine said state and law enforcement officials were working to recover as much of the stolen money as possible, she declined to say how much had been returned so far. She also said the ESD had taken “a number of steps” to prevent new fraudulent claims from being filed or paid but would not specify the steps to avoid alerting criminals.

Thursday’s disclosure helped explain the unusual surge in the number of new jobless claims filed last week in Washington, which as we showed this morning was the state with the highest weekly increase in claims.

On Wednesday, the state’s monthly employment report for April showed Washington with a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 15.4%, up from 5.1% in March. The national unemployment rate for April stood at 14.7%, seasonally adjusted.

For the week ending May 16, the ESD received 138,733 initial claims for unemployment insurance, a 26.8% increase over the prior week and one of the biggest weekly surges since the coronavirus crisis began. That sharp increase came as the number of initial jobless claims nationwide fell 9.2%, to 2.4 million, according to data released earlier in the day by the Labor Department.

Indeed, the surge in claims made Washington the state with the highest percentage of its civilian labor force filing unemployment claims – at 30.8%, according to an analysis by the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan Washington, D.C., think tank. Nevada, the next-highest state, reported claims from 24.5% of its civilian workforce.

It now appears that many of those claims were fictitious and emanated from some computer in Nigeria.

The disclosure came as the state was already struggling to process an unprecedented wave of legitimate jobless claims amid one of the worst economic crises in U.S. history. Some additional delays in benefits payments to legitimate claimants are likely as the ESD subjects all claims to more scrutiny.

“This makes me the most angry, and the most upset — that we need to delay payments to Washingtonians who need the benefits,” LeVine said adding that "we need to also build in more time for analysis. So going forward, we want to set expectations that we will add an additional one to two days to our processing time."

That delay follows a decision last Thursday to temporarily suspend benefit payments for two days. The delay came after the ESD disclosed that it had seen a surge in bogus claims reportedly filed by identity thieves who appeared to be targeting the extra-generous benefits available under federal pandemic relief legislation.

That same day, the Secret Service issued an alert describing Washington as the top target so far of a Nigerian fraud ring "exploiting the COVID-19 crisis to commit large-scale fraud against state unemployment insurance programs."

It remains unclear how the fraudulent benefit payments made their way all the way to Nigeria.[/quote]

omgtzsammie:


Nigeria my country... No wonder bill gates wants to start his covid vaccines with Nigerians.. This few criminal elements are busy rubbing the name Nigeria in the mud.. it’s well though

Can you stop this “ rubbing the name Nigeria in the mud.“ it sounds like inferiority complex.

When it comes to this kind of computer fraud, 9ja no even register where Russia and other Eastern Europe dey. Even Indians are doing a lot more of these sorts of fraud.

The thing rubbing your country in the mud is your endemic poverty.

Stephenomozzy:


Na so, I hope you don't forget this when you're repeatedly denied work/resident permit or even Visa sef time and time again all because you're Nigerian.

The share wey una government dey thief to same US why una norva go carry una share

US is the most corrupt nation on earth and Washington DC is a deep swamp of corruption.

Collyweed:


Can you stop this “ rubbing the name Nigeria in the mud.“ it sounds like inferiority complex.

When it comes to this kind of computer fraud, 9ja no even register where Russia and other Eastern Europe dey. Even Indians are doing a lot more of these sorts of fraud.

The thing rubbing your country in the mud is your endemic poverty.

Funny enough, Israel is the capital of electronic fraud and they usually mask as Nigerians.

LeVine is a Jew.

This could be one of their heist which they routed through a Nigerian server/computer that they hacked from Tel Aviv.

Never ever trust a Jew rat.

LeOstrich:


Funny enough, Israel is the capital of electronic fraud and they usually mask as Nigerians.

Even China is not left out. They carry out mass attacks on servers. In North Korea, financial fraud is an official government revenue source. But my people will be yapping crap about rubbing their poverty stained name in the mud.

Suzan G. LeVine was an Obama pay-for-play appointee.

They are using Nigerian Yahoo boys to hide their heist.

That money is probably in Israel.

Hmm

Indians do way more fraud than any country in this world.
Yet hypocritical Nigerians will join the bandwagon to demonize fresh boys working for their money. Apart from crude oil nothing brings in dollars into the Nigerian economy than Yahoo. Hypocritical nigerians take that to the bank.

Stephenomozzy:
These bad elements amongst us always have a way of making Nigeria look so bad and morally bankrupt in the global economy. Exploiting a system that is set up to save the lives of people for selfish gains!

Una go think say "Oyibo no dey swear Ogun" - the repercussion that will hit y'all (the delinquents) soon eh. Karma is one introverted B!!tch

guy sharap there. Those retard elements have made cities worth living in. Without these regards yiu think yiu will see people driving Benz, Lexus on the road ? Except politicians that steal you dry yiu wont see any good thing in this country.

These retards get the money and invest it in Nigeria... Hence you see boutique, eatry lounges, schools all booming. They make the economy grow.


Thieves in govt make the economy suffer by removing the money to invest in the same usa, while the usa will turn a blind eye.

Nobody holy pass. It is what it is !!!!

Captainrambo2:
guy sharap there. Those retard elements have made cities worth living in. Without these regards yiu think yiu will see people driving Benz, Lexus on the road ? Except politicians that steal you dry yiu wont see any good thing in this country.

These retards get the money and invest it in Nigeria... Hence you see boutique, eatry lounges, schools all booming. They make the economy grow.


Thieves in govt make the economy suffer by removing the money to invest in the same usa, while the usa will turn a blind eye.

Nobody holy pass. It is what it is !!!!

This article was from Zerohedge website.

Check the comments section and you will see that most of the American commentators are not buying the Nigerian Scam angle and believe this was nothing shot of a heist orchestrated by the Demons ruling Washington State who are hanging this scam on an imaginary Nigerian fraud syndicate.

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/washington-state-loses-hundreds-millions-nigerian-unemployment-claims-fraud-scheme

Invictus

Captainrambo2:
guy sharap there. Those retard elements have made cities worth living in. Without these regards yiu think yiu will see people driving Benz, Lexus on the road ? Except politicians that steal you dry yiu wont see any good thing in this country.

These retards get the money and invest it in Nigeria... Hence you see boutique, eatry lounges, schools all booming. They make the economy grow.


Thieves in govt make the economy suffer by removing the money to invest in the same usa, while the usa will turn a blind eye.

Nobody holy pass. It is what it is !!!!

Were you sober while typing all these? Wow.. Such retrogressive thinking. Such arrogance is display of ignorance.

Be waiting for boutique and benz to boost foreign investment that can improve the economy on a global scale

[s]

Stephenomozzy:


Were you sober while typing all these? Wow.. Such retrogressive thinking. Such arrogance is display of ignorance.

Be waiting for boutique and benz to boost foreign investment that can improve the economy on a global scale

[/s]

Britain, Spain, France and the US made their money from exploiting other countries dry.

Even China is exploiting and raping you dry in Africa and you are here grinding bones with the only sector that is repatriating money back to Nigeria.

Keep plying the moral high road when you are dealing with a global syndicate of thieves and pillagers.

Stephenomozzy:


Were you sober while typing all these? Wow.. Such retrogressive thinking. Such arrogance is display of ignorance.

Be waiting for boutique and benz to boost foreign investment that can improve the economy on a global scale

black man let me tell you this. The world doesn't give s fucķ about yiu. All the monies stolen from Nigeria you think its hidden in Africa? Its stashed in uk , usa etc. Re these yiur lovely whites aware its looted funds ? Keep rolling in the dust and deceiving yourself.

LeOstrich:
[s][/s]

Britain, Spain, France and the US made their money from exploiting other countries dry.

Even China is exploiting and raping you dry in Africa and you are here grinding bones with the only sector that is repatriating money back to Nigeria.

Keep plying the moral high road when you are dealing with a global syndicate of thieves and pillagers.

leave the little tart. He thinks the world is black and white



Bro I like you. I for like make we be guys

LeOstrich:
[s][/s]

Britain, Spain, France and the US made their money from exploiting other countries dry.

Even China is exploiting and raping you dry in Africa and you are here grinding bones with the only sector that is repatriating money back to Nigeria.

Keep plying the moral high road when you are dealing with a global syndicate of thieves and pillagers.

Captainrambo2:
black man let me tell you this. The world doesn't give s fucķ about yiu. All the monies stolen from Nigeria you think its hidden in Africa? Its stashed in uk , usa etc. Re these yiur lovely whites aware its looted funds ? Keep rolling in the dust and deceiving yourself.

Ability to speak grammar and churn out an opinion is not equivalent to sensibility or logical reasoning. Both of y'all just confirmed this. Bye

Stephenomozzy:


Ability to speak grammar and churn out an opinion is not equivalent to sensibility. You just confirmed this. Byebye

House nigga

Collyweed:


Even China is not left out. They carry out mass attacks on servers. In North Korea, financial fraud is an official government revenue source. But my people will be yapping crap about rubbing their poverty stained name in the mud.

You dey mind them.Yahoo boys or whatever ,we Nigerians are enemies to ourselves.. From voting wrong people to lead us,all because ,grid, and so many stupid reasons. So many funds that ought to be used in creating jobs for these boys,are used by our leaders for personal purposes. Attack the leaders ,before these boys.. Head bad,why body no go bad too? Yahoo boys are bad,but our leaders worst.. I hope and pray these boys gets better means of survival, so that they will stop this fraud occupation they're into..

Even the thieves wen full this forum still dey shine teeth,when talking about fraud.. Hypo.....

Stephenomozzy:
These bad elements amongst us always have a way of making Nigeria look so bad and morally bankrupt in the global economy. Exploiting a system that is set up to save the lives of people for selfish gains!

Una go think say "Oyibo no dey swear Ogun" - the repercussion that will hit y'all (the delinquents) soon eh. Karma is one introverted B!!tch

You must be specially stupppid to believe anything that comes out of the white ppls mouth. don't you know that america has more fraudstaars than the whole africa? the try to tarnish the image of nigeria and you dumb fuckkers help them out. I don't believe that nonsense, statistics with no evidence. Go and learn or read so your brain can function on its own.
Whites and americans are bad ass scammers and fraudsters but nigeria is used as the scapegoat all the time. how about the fraud that was commited sometime ago and they were saying its a nigerian and at the end of the day they discovered that its a whiteman.

Stephenomozzy:




Ability to speak grammar and churn out an opinion is not equivalent to sensibility or logical reasoning. Both of y'all just confirmed this. Bye

Proud and ignorant. Fade

That guy is one veery stupidd house nigga, a big fat illiterate and a proud one too. He knows nothing about how the world really works he is only brainwashed by whatver the news, blogs and white media put in his dumbb brain, that is if he has a brain anyway.

Captainrambo2:


Proud and ignorant. Fade

Why must every fraudulent activity be linked to Nigeria ��
I’m 80% sure it isn’t even Nigerians