Is there any job below that of a "scammer"? Honestly - these people put some much time, effort, and energy into making money illegally that it's almost mind-blowing that that's the way they choose to make money. There's a lot of ingenuity in scamming so you would think that those abilities could be used to carve out a more reasonable (and legal) living.

Unfortunately, scammers would rather put their time towards something that can make a quick buck and save them from having to go through the process of getting a real profession. Cue the creation of the Idaho COVID-19 Fraud Task Force; a collection of agencies that are teaming up to put away anyone who committed fraud with COVID-19 relief.

“Investigating claims of COVID-19 relief fraud remains a top priority for IRS Criminal Investigation,” said Andy Tsui, an IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge.

According to the Department of Justice, a defendant convicted of COVID-19 fraud can expect to face up to a 30-month sentence. The task force isn't to be trifled with either - agencies include:

  • Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
  • US Department of Treasury
  • Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI)
  • US Secret Service
  • Social Security Administration
  • And more...

According to the IRS, over 800 cases of COVID-19-related fraud have been investigated with a lot more investigations on the way. The Task Force is looking to target crooks who attempted to scam or defraud relief funds that were designated to help families and small businesses that were impacted by COVID-19. The Task Force is inviting anyone with information on who attempted to defraud these programs to share that info here.

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