The campaign comes at a particularly bad time when the pandemic has forced a record number of people out of work. These scams force governments to look into scams right at a moment when many legitimate claimants — in at least one case, officials have needed to halt payments after discovering phony claims.

It’s not clear what action (if any) American authorities can take to stop the fraud. However, the scams underscore the importance of protecting against identity theft, both for individuals and companies. They also make clear that governments need to tighten online security for unemployment and other systems that require sensitive info — strict safeguards for data don’t matter if there aren’t enough checks to make sure it’s being used properly.