A scammer in Michigan used Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner’s names to get thousands of dollars in fraudulent unemployment benefits.
Though the real individual behind the elaborate scam has not been named, an audit unveiled that “Kimberly Kardashian” and “Kylie Jenner” collected thousands of dollars in Michigan unemployment compensation last year during the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The false Kardashian filed for the benefits on May 13th from an address in Traverse City. That person received eight weeks of unemployment totaling over $7,000. The claim was not flagged until May 15th, requesting additional information by the state. By then, the funds were long gone. ‘Jenner’ filed the day after ‘Kardashian,’ adding the same bank account information.
The beauty moguls sisters obviously had nothing to do with the fraud. However, the state’s unemployment system was riddled with false claims during the pandemic when millions of people had been laid off or furloughed. At the time, the agency approved thousands of claims, knowing that at least 10% of all claims were likely fraudulent.
Many of these claims slipped through the cracks because standard fraud ID protocols would have held up the distribution of funds for legit recipients.
The agency’s acting director, Liza Estlund Olson, says that “pressure” to get the money to recipients in need was “enormous.”
“And everybody was looking at ways to figure out how to do that and continue to fit within the parameters of what we normally do,” Olson stated before adding, “The staff totally and completely understands that our job is to pay claimants if they’re eligible to be paid.”
The results of an audit into the scam found that the state’s technology made it simple for people to submit illegitimate claims. The investigation found that the agency paid “hundreds of millions” worth of fraudulent unemployment claims.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is trying its best to crack down on the scheme, charging 13 people with scamming the system. Dozens of other cases are being investigated. The agency has fired ten employees for their roles in negligence. Former director Steve Gray resigned in November, which is the same month that the audit results were published.
