Before the story airs: WRAL Investigates fake businesses stealing unemployment money

Hundreds of thousands of people depend on unemployment benefits to help them make it from job to job. Unfortunately, others take advantage of the system and steal from those who need it.

When you usually think of unemployment fraud, it’s simply people collecting benefits who are no longer eligible. But there’s a new twist to unemployment fraud  that North Carolina is trying to stop.

We’re talking fake companies, stolen identities and fraudulent unemployment claims. It’s a multimillion-dollar scam and in many cases, those who get away with it never even pay a dime into the system.

Monday at 5:30, WRAL Investigates the complex scheme used to rip off taxpayers and what the state’s unemployment office is doing to crack down.