By Stephanie Kanowitz May 17, 2021 New government economic recovery programs jumpstarted during the COVID-19 pandemic also rapidly increased opportunities for fraud. One reason is that to get benefits to people quickly, legislators eliminated the usual methods for confirming identities with employers before cutting checks, said Brian Grech, vice president of sales at Deep Labs, an AI platform company providing solutions for fraud. Traditionally, when someone applies for unemployment insurance (UI), the providing agency confirms the layoff with an employer. In the rush to push out relief funds, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) instructed agencies to deliver stimulus payments to self-employed and contract workers who don’t have employers to confirm a layoff.