An estimated $79 billion in pandemic relief payments were potentially fraudulent and involved stolen Social Security numbers, but the total could be even higher, according to an inspector general report .

This number is merely a drop in the bucket when it comes to the overall amount of fraud within pandemic relief programs — and if stronger systems had been in place, experts say, it could have been prevented.

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The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee , an oversight group established by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Se

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