The Trump administration has made fraud in Washington a fraud word and is responsible for government efficiency or road departments eliminating it from the federal government.

But, according to Linda Miller, the government’s fraud problem is much more complex and more expensive than most people realize, spending a decade in the Government Accountability Office and writing a rulebook on preventing fraud in federal programs.

Fraud is a crime, and Miller believes that taxpayers’ expenses are close to $1 trillion a year. The biggest perpetrators, she said, are not personal lying because they are eligible for programs such as unemployment insurance, but mature criminals, often overseas, who are depleting public aid programs for Americans in need.

"We're really talking about the nation-state actors," Miller said. "We're talking about organized crime rings. We're talking about using the identities of a large number of stolen Americans to get criminal activity."

The threat of transnational fraud rings

The problem broke out during the Alliance's 19 pandemic when the government rushed into the economy to help struggling Americans. Applications for relief programs are moved online, making it easier for people to get assistance, but there are few safeguards, and scammers, hackers and organized crime rings can also be cashed out.

Miller, who was appointed as an independent regulatory body committee in 2020, tracking the spending of Covid Relief funds, said she saw theft coming.

"It's like they throw money in the air, just keeping people running around and grabbing it," Miller said.

There is no official pandemic relief funding that has lost fraud, but Miller estimates that this is more than $1 trillion (or one-fifth), making it the biggest fraud loss in U.S. history.

The most shocking part for Miller is that much of the money stolen from the pandemic has gone to foreign confrontation countries, including China and Russia.

Often, the fraud ring uses stolen personal data to imitate Americans.

Last year, the FBI cracked one of the largest digital fraud cases in U.S. history that involved cybercriminals from around the world using stolen identities to earn $6 billion in pandemic unemployment funds.

Bryan Vorndran, head of the FBI's cyber division, said the government was the target of such fraud because it had a lot of money.

He said that almost every American’s personally identifiable information – name, date of birth, previous address, social security number – can be purchased on Darknet.

In some cases, criminals are paid by foreign governments. Vorndran called the fraud ring "digital gang of the 21st century" and knew their government would not interrupt its activities, even if it was illegal.

For example, China has hired a group called APT41 from the FBI - prone to advanced ongoing threats. In 2021, APT41 carried out highly complex and unusual hacking attacks by at least six state governments, according to cybersecurity group Mandiant, although researchers noted that at least 18 states could be vulnerable. According to Vorndran, APT41 uses this access to commit financial crimes by defrauding unemployment insurance plans in multiple states.

"They used stolen personally identifiable information ... basically filed fraudulent unemployment claims and then laundered money through Shell, which was sent back to these people in China," Vaughndelan said.

The FBI's best estimate is $60 million in about two years. Vaughndran said there was little recycling.

Several law enforcement and national security officials told 60 minutes that China is the main destination for the stolen taxpayer dollars, but the plans are so complex and difficult to unravel that the real losses are unknown.

Vaughndland said fraudsters against the U.S. government can be caught. But people believe that some criminals are unreachable and that the U.S. government has exceeded the number.

"In the U.S. government, we're outnumbered," Vaughndland said.

The real American behind the stolen identity

Today, the Transnational Cyber ​​Crime Ring continues to target government programs with tools such as AI Deepfakes, synthetic identities and stolen identities associated with fake emails and phone calls.

"This is Moore," Miller said. "These guys are watching closely. They see where to do better controls. Then, they will get to where the controls are still not improved."

Miller said fraudsters often target disaster funds. They look at the postal code for the disaster and start buying the stolen identity so they can apply for disaster loans and disaster grants.

Rich and Deann Wilken survived in January, victims of alleged identity fraud. They documented nearly fifty years of damage to the home and applied for disaster assistance from the Federal Emergency Administration.

Wilkens never heard an echo, so they followed up with a disaster center’s FEMA representative and learned that the personal information they used to set up their FEMA account has been changed.

“By then, we already had some other friends’ accounts,” Deann Wilken said. “And we left, ‘Oh, not us.’”

Wilkens was told their accounts were locked for suspected identity fraud. They spent months waiting for the FEMA to resolve the case, and it is not clear whether they will get any money.

It's more than just a plan: There's money, there's fraud - in unemployment, food stamps, disability, tax refunds - to get Americans to work hard to get their debts.

Is Doge looking for fraud in the right place?

When President Trump returned to the White House in January, he set up a road to identify and deal with waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government.

Miller welcomes the formation of Doge, but she fears it confuses fraud with wasteful spending.

“For example, you might not agree with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) work, for example, you know, foreign fertilizers, you might think that spending money is wrong, but it is not fraud,” she said.

Last year, the GAO released a report that estimates the federal government loses as much as $521 billion in fraud every year. But Miller and other fraud experts believe that number is higher. Miller's annual figure is between $55 billion.

Miller said there are many opportunities to save a lot of money if you want to focus on real fraud - she defines it as intentional deception that can prove it in court.

"It's something for mom and apple pie. We both agree that bad actors shouldn't steal American taxpayers' money."

Doge claims it has saved taxpayers more than $150 billion so far, sometimes inaccurate examples of cost-cutting, and later back.

A White House spokesman told 60 Minute that Duger has been working to improve data sharing among agencies, and departments are collaborating to identify fraud and prevent criminals from exploiting taxpayers, saying: "The fraudsters will be held accountable."

Miller said she saw "some tips" about Mendog solving the right problem.

"But now, I think the jury is still discussing whether we will make this progress," she said.