I don't understand how someone steals someone else's unemployment. How is it even possible? Perhaps if the federal government had not chosen to continue to allow Equifax to exist after its data breach that compromised every American adult's social security number AND states weren't using technology from the 1960s to manage their UI, this shit show would not be happening.

https://www.king5.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/overseas-scammers-target-washingtons-unemployment-department/281-a90d5d57-efdd-428a-9e0e-9050884790d2

And it's not just Washington. It's happening nationwide.

Feds Suspect Vast Fraud Network Is Targeting U.S. Unemployment Systems
Investigators see evidence of a sophisticated international attack they said could siphon hundreds of millions of dollars that were intended for the unemployed.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/16/us/coronavirus-unemployment-fraud-secret-service-washington.html

U.S. Secret Service: “Massive Fraud” Against State Unemployment Insurance Programs
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2020/05/u-s-secret-service-massive-fraud-against-state-unemployment-insurance-programs/

I'm not usually one to defend bureaucracy. But I'm one of the many people who has unexpectedly needed to collect unemployment during this madness, and I have ti correct you about the 173 pages of forms. I've been very pleasantly surprised by the ease of this process. They ask a few very reasonable and non-invasive questions each week, which you answer with a 'yes' or 'no,' and within about 72 hours you've got money in the bank. Accepted that this may be have TOO easy for scammers to take advantage of, but I have no complaints at all regarding the paperwork burden on my end.