Florida Is Ground Zero For Pandemic Fraud
Bottom Line: Over the past couple of decades there are numerous lists Florida tops for all of the right reasons. Taxes, freedom, environment, recreation, relocations, etc. But there’s also a really awful one we consistently top as well. Fraud. If it’s being attempted in the United States, it’s assured it’s happening in South Florida. For years my wife and I watched the CNBC series American Greed with a standing joke about whether the episode would start in South Florida or end in South Florida. What isn’t funny is how pervasive it is. Florida’s long been the top destination for fraud due because of MOD. That’s a combination of money, opportunity and demographics. Having the largest older population in addition to diverse populations has led to no shortage of victims over the years. Some like the Madoff victims make national news. Most, like victims of the latest IRS scam, don’t. A new report from the Department of Justice shows that while our lives changed during the pandemic – the fraudsters didn’t. Although the fraud carried out this time victimized all of us.
Florida has 6.7% of the country’s population. Based on DOJ stats, we had 25% of the identified fraudsters under the PPP program as 48 of the 209 arrests made by the feds have been in Florida. Other than this being yet another story about how as taxpayers we all were losers with these scammers, it’s a reminder about how pervasive scams and fraud are in our state in addition to being increasingly clever and how it’s always important to be skeptical and to remind your parents of the need to always be mindful.
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