Georgia is cracking down on unemployment fraud.  Nationwide, it's a problem that tallies up a bill worth $17 billion annually.
 
Federal labor officials say a big chunk of that fraud comes from people who drew benefits checks even after finding a new job.  And some other workers never eligible to get checks - got payments. 
    
Sam Hall with the state’s labor department says Georgia recently joined with a handful of other states. They’re using a relatively new web-based program to exchange unemployment insurance information with each other and some employers.
 
“It is one more effort that we’re making to control unemployment insurance fraud.  It’s not the only thing we’re going, but one of the tools we use.” 
 
Hall says last year the state discovered nearly $5 million in fraudulent payments.  So far, the state’s recouped about $1.4 million of that amount.   

Tags: Georgia, fraud, unemployment benefits, State Labor Department, unemployment fraud, jobless checks