The COVID-19 unemployment benefits provided from the federal programs, like the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), were not directly cut onto Electronic Transfer Fund (EFT) cards. Instead, these federal benefits were distributed through state unemployment agencies, and some recipients may have received these funds via prepaid debit cards issued by banks like U.S. Bank and Bank of America. While seemingly expeditious process wise, the system was very vulnerable to fraud. Jaysha Victorian worked for a bank contractor from late 2020 to early 2021 and used her access to load prepaid debit cards with millions of dollars, including unemployment benefits for California in a matter of a few weeks!
Victorian participated in a scheme to steal unemployment funds that were being supplemented during the pandemic. She credited at least 187 debit cards loaded with nearly $8.6 million. The cards were later distributed to other recipients, who withdrew the funds from ATMs. Recipients withdrew or spent over $7.6 million before the bank could freeze the cards. Victorian, herself, admitted to using over $300,000 in cash proceeds, including a $1,000 ATM withdrawal in Houston, from her role in the scheme. But officials have not said if anyone else was involved in the conspiracy or if the funds were later recovered by the bank, which is confusing because about $7 million in fraudulent unemployment benefits are unaccounted for!
On July 22, 2025, Victorian was sentenced to serve a year and a half in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release.
Great job by the FBI in this case.
Today’s Fraud of The Day is based on article “Houston woman sentenced for role in $8 million debit card fraud scheme” published by Lone Star Standard on July 22, 2025.
A Houston woman has been sentenced for her involvement in a wire fraud conspiracy involving fraudulent debit card funds, according to an announcement by U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.
Jaysha Victorian, 23, pleaded guilty on April 3 and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen to 18 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. During the hearing, it was revealed that Victorian participated in a scheme to steal unemployment funds that were increased during the pandemic, resulting in millions of dollars of fraud within weeks.
