Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando) | https://annaforflorida.com/
Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando) | https://annaforflorida.com/
A surge of Florida unemployment assistance claims has created a flood of fraudulent claims, highlighting weaknesses in the system, reported The Center Square.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) reported that Florida unemployment assistance claims have spiked dramatically from 26,599 on Jan. 21 to 71,046 on Feb. 4, the highest levels reported since August.
The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) believes that a significant number of the new claims may be fraudulent and stated that it now requires claimants to use a mobile app which utilizes “additional fraud-detection software” to file unemployment assistance applications.
DEO spokesperson Emilie Oglesby said the state is investigating the extent of fraud, the Miami Herald reported.
“The state takes this very seriously,” Oglesby said, as reported by The Center Square. “We have noticed a significant increase in the number of new claims over the past couple weeks.”
State Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando) told the Miami Herald that a large amount of Florida’s unemployment assistance trust fund may have been eaten up by fraudulent claims.
“It’s definitely a reflection of how broken the system is," Eskamani said, as reported by The Center Square.
According to the DEO, Florida has paid $21.6 billion in assistance to approximately 2.2 million claimants since the beginning of the pandemic.
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