An estimated $400 billion of COVID-aid was improperly allocated to falsified or stolen Social Security numbers, according to the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC).
The committee found that COVID-19 relief issued in 2020 was fraught with abuse and fraud, per a fact sheet released in June 2025. The estimated amount represents approximately eight-percent of all COVID-era relief payments.
Several pandemic relief programs were found by the PRAC to be defrauded, including: The Small Business Administration’s COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan program (EIDL), the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Department of Labor’s pandemic-related Unemployment Insurance programs. At least $80 billion worth of funds are confirmed to have been disbursed to fraudulent claims.
The PRAC sampled 662,000 identity records used to file claims for COVID-19 relief, finding that at least 23,854 of these were used fraudulently. Additionally, the Social Security Administration (SSA) informed the PRAC that 11,514 of the samples belonged to individuals who were deceased. The total estimate of fraudulent Social Security Numbers used to commit the fraud was around 1.4 million based on analysis of the sample, when elaborated to the full scope of COVID relief.
“This type of fraud is readily preventable using the authorities and analytics platform that Congress has provided to the PRAC,” the release stated. “Moreover, having an identity verification capability using a recognized source such as SSA enables agencies to effectively focus their efforts on a significantly smaller subset of the applications for further examination.”
“Fulfilling the PRAC’s mission of rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in COVID response spending requires better technological tools,” said Michael E. Horowitz, chair of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee. Horowitz continued, “[T]he use of advanced data analytics that can be used to identify and stop fraudulent payments before they are made, to strengthen compliance and audit efforts, and detect fraud and support efforts to recover any ill-gotten gains.”
“Over the last year, numerous OIGs have found that speed compromised internal controls, as agencies rushed billions of dollars in urgent relief out the door,” said Horowitz.
A report in September 2020 by the PRAC identified self-certification as a primary driver of fraud in COVID relief, stating, “the most common root cause agencies report for improper payments is reliance on self-reported information or inability to authenticate eligibility.”
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is currently investigating alleged COVID-19 relief fraud. Multiple cases have been reported in the last month regarding actions against fraudulent individuals siphoning COVID-19 relief.
Six people were indicted on charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering on June 6 for a scheme involving some $34 million in COVID relief. The defendants allegedly submitted more than 90 false and fraudulent applications to a number of agencies, including the PPP and EIDL.
Three other individuals were sentenced on May 22 for their participation in a scheme to defraud the Georgia Department of Labor of $30 million of COVID-19 aid. The three defendants filed more than 5,000 fraudulent unemployment claims, resulting in at least 30 million in stolen benefits.
The DOJ states on its website that “throughout the country, federal, state, and local law enforcement are on high alert to investigate reports of individuals and businesses engaging in a wide range of fraudulent and criminal behavior” regarding COVID-centered fraud.
Horowitz stated plainly the intention of the committee to root out fraud and abuse in government relief payments.
“Those who engage in fraud and other wrongdoing in connection with pandemic-related programs will be held accountable, and we hope that these efforts will have the necessary and important deterrent effect,” Horowitz testified.
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