On March 16, the White House released an Executive Order (EO) creating a task force to target fraud in federal benefit programs. Chaired by the vice president of the United States and vice chaired by the chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the task force is empowered to:
- Develop measures to change eligibility verification processes in federal benefits programs and maximize enforcement of eligibility requirements, including requirements within the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA);
- Coordinate with agencies to implement pre-disbursement controls to prevent improper payments and, when necessary, pause funding to address suspected fraud risk;
- Audit and ensure prospective compliance monitoring, including for use in identifying fraud in federal benefits programs
- Facilitate information and data sharing between federal, local and tribal…
Cyber fraud uses technology as the primary weapon. It is highly scalable and can be conducted from anywhere in the world.
- Phishing/Smishing/Vishing: Using deceptive emails (phishing), text messages (smishing), or phone calls (vishing) to trick victims into clicking malicious links or revealing sensitive data.
- Business Email Compromise (BEC): A high-value scam where a criminal impersonates a CEO or high-level executive via a “spoofed” email address to trick a staff member into making an urgent, unauthorized wire transfer.