NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
EXCLUSIVE: The rise of a new type of fraudster has a top Trump administration investigator sounding the alarm as new — albeit brazen — schemes for ripping off hard-working American taxpayers emerge.
The Department of Labor (DOL) Inspector General is warning of a growing cottage industry of online scammers, dubbed “fraudfluencers,” who boast their skill in exploiting government programs and facilitate fraud on behalf of others. Typically, the scammers take a cut of the fraudulently obtained benefits.
“This isn’t just a crime — it’s a deliberate and public betrayal of every hardworking American who plays by the rules,” DOL Inspector General Anthony P. D’Esposito told Fox News Digital. “Fraud is not a trend or content; it’s theft of taxpayer dollars, and it will be prosecuted.”
EXCLUSIVE: WOMAN WHO STOLE $1.7M MEANT FOR HURRICANE VICTIMS GETS PRISON TIME AS DHS CRACKS DOWN ON FEMA FRAUD
In one case, a California Employment Development Department (EDD) contract employee named Britteny Egland openly used her social media to invite others to participate in her schemes. She offered to help her followers take advantage of taxpayer-funded programs they weren’t qualified for by using insider information and stolen identities to file fraudulent unemployment insurance, grant and rent relief applications.
Egland had nearly 10,000 followers on Instagram and over 1,500 followers on X at the time of the posts. Her actions exhibit a growing cottage industry of online schemers who brazenly solicit others to team up and commit fraud.
She went on to steal $2.8 million from government coffers.
“NEW OR REGULAR CLAIMS ONLY,” a typical post from the fraudfluencer, who used the handle @Britisshh on X, reads. “IF YOU DID PANDEMIC EDD THIS ISN’T FOR YOU! EVEN IF YOU HAVE A REMAINING BALANCE IT WILL NOT WORK.”
EXCLUSIVE: FBI ADDS ALLEGED COVID FRAUDSTER ACCUSED OF TAKING $5M FROM KIDS’ MEAL PROGRAM TO MOST WANTED LIST
“IF YOU HAVEN’T DID EDD DURING THAT PERIOD LET’S RUN IT UP. 10-30K,” the post continued, before offering for her to “check a claim” for the price of $150.
Egland prompted users to “get with the winning team” by defrauding the U.S. government, but warned potential clients against asking her too many questions because she was unable to address the influx of messages.
“IT’S A LOT OF MONEY ON THE FLOOR! PLEASE DON’T BE STUPID AND MISS OUT,” another post from the perpetrator said. “NOBODY WENT TO JAIL OR OWE BACK FOR ANYTHING – LITERALLY – THE WHOLE WORLD IS SCAMMING THE GOVERNMENT AND ALL THESE PROGRAMS.”
In a third post, the scammer offered her services in defrauding a $20,000 grant program, saying that she would take $5,000 and give the rest to her client.
VANCE ANTI-FRAUD TASK FORCE SUSPENDS 447 HOSPICES IN LOS ANGELES OVER MORE THAN $600M IN SUSPECTED FRAUD
The law eventually caught up with Egland. In June 2025, she pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Egland was sentenced 60 months in federal prison, 36 months of supervised release and ordered to repay the full $2.8 million she stole.
“What makes this increasingly dangerous is the growing effort by fraudsters on social media to glamorize and normalize stealing from their own communities — turning theft into entertainment and betrayal into a lifestyle,” said D’Esposito.
“My office, working in close coordination with Vice President Vance’s White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, has zero tolerance for those who cheat the system. We will pursue these cases aggressively, seek prison sentences, and ensure real accountability.”
Egland’s case isn’t isolated.
Investigators are increasingly seeing fraudsters use social media to normalize theft, advertise their methods and build audiences around criminal behavior.
An Atlanta man named Jonathan Dupiton, who had a podcast with the motto “F.R.A.U.D is Dope,” was convicted in April and sentenced to seven years in federal prison for using stolen identities to brazenly obtain $3.8 million in fraudulent unemployment insurance benefits from the same California EDD program.
In 2022, a Memphis rapper called “Nuke Bizzle,” whose real name is Fontrell Antonio Baines, was sentenced to 77 months in federal prison after exploiting Pandemic Unemployment Assistance provisions from the CARES Act, meant to help struggling Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Baines bragged about his $788,000 in ill-gotten gains in a music video posted to YouTube.
“The criminal mindset hasn’t changed — only the platform has,” said D’Esposito, a former NYPD detective. “I’ve seen criminals make mistakes. Today’s ‘Fraudfluencers’ make those mistakes in high definition. They steal from taxpayers, boast about it on social media, and leave a digital footprint our investigators can follow.”
D’Esposito and the White House Fraud Task Force was created, in part, to crack down on taxpayer funds being paid out to fraudsters and to end the widespread abuse of government programs.
Read the full article here
