Eight people have been charged in connection with an alleged cyber fraud exceeding $360,000 that targeted a federal benefit program during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The RCMP launched an investigation in August 2020 into “a sophisticated fraud scheme involving networks of individuals” targeting the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) program, the federal policing agency said in a May 20 press release.
CERB, a temporary federal funding initiative run by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), was designed to offer $2,000 per month to eligible workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Investigators found that the suspects illegally accessed taxpayer accounts, modified banking details, and rerouted CERB payments into accounts they controlled, police said. Fraudulent claims linked to the accused totalled approximately $364,000….