We're bringing you some chilling fraud schemes and unearthing how pandemic relief has kept your spooky season happy and haunting
Keep reading, if you dare...
Frankenstein Fraud
Synthetic fraud, or Frankenstein fraud, mixes real information with false information to make a frightening potion of lies and truth. A fraudster may combine a stolen Social Security Number belonging to a real person with a fake name, date of birth, and address to create a new identity to apply for pandemic relief.
This makes it hard to sort the real information from the fake, making Frankenstein fraud a scary way of stealing both personal information and pandemic relief from the public.
Learn more about how we're using our own (data) science to fight fraud
Ghost Employees
Though ghost employees may not literally haunt the halls of a workplace, they can create a spooky aura of false information when fraudsters fabricate employees on grant applications to steal more money.
Talk about working the graveyard shift.
Read about how we partnered with HUD OIG to identify more than 30 fraud schemes, including the specter of ghost employees
Hayrides, Pumpkin Patches, Haunted Houses, oh my!
Spooky season businesses offering corn mazes, hayrides and hauntings were affected by COVID, and many needed support from pandemic relief funds. Below are some examples of the local businesses delivering your seasonal favorites using the programs designed to keep them alive...
or the living dead.
18 awards went to haunted houses, totaling $100,000.
36 awards went to corn mazes, totaling $630,000.
Explore our interactive dashboard to learn what your local seasonal businesses received in pandemic relief
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