Colorado Paid $19 Million In Fraudulent Unemployment Claims During COVID-19 Pandemic

DENVER (CBS4) -- The state has confirmed it has paid out more than $19 million in fraudulent unemployment claims since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment provided the update during a news conference we streamed live on CBSN Denver Friday morning.

(credit: CBS)

Earlier this week, the state unemployment administrators said they estimated fraudsters got away with as much as $30 million since the pandemic began.

The state says while it lost the $19 million, it estimates it has prevented another $37 billion from getting into the hands of fraudsters.

They are currently investigating more than one million suspicious claims.

The CDLE says it is implementing new strategies every day to prevent any more fraud from happening.