Identity theft and other sophisticated criminal schemes contributed to potentially $163 billion in waste, while inflicting harm on unwitting victims.
The 32-year-old soon notified her bosses, believing last summer that she had put the matter to rest. But the real trouble wouldn’t start until September: When Brown-Thomas did actually find herself out of a job, she couldn’t get the financial support she needed. Mired in bureaucratic battles, she said she found herself locked in a months-long struggle just to prove her identity to the city.
“I’m still trying to figure out how to get a lot of stuff paid,” Brown-Thomas, who warred at one point with the city over her eligibility, said in an interview this spring. “It was so easy for them to use my Social Security number to get unemployment.”
Brown-Thomas is part of a sprawling community of victims caught up in a massive series…
