WASHINGTON, D.C. - The coronavirus pandemic has been a boom time for scammers, many of whom ply their trade through insecure peer-to-peer payment platforms that have a three to four times higher fraud rate than traditional payment methods such as debit and credit cards, expert witnesses told a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Development subcommittee this week.
National Consumers League vice president John Breyault said fraudsters have run advance fee scams to target stimulus checks, have committed identity fraud linked to the online sharing of coronavirus vaccination cards, and even taken advantage of grieving families by targeting the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s COVID-19 Funeral Assistance Program.