Survey: 69 Percent of Michiganders Worry About Identity Fraud

After widespread pandemic fraud over the last two years, nearly seven out of 10 Michiganders are concerned about identity fraud.

John Zogby Strategies, a survey research firm, polled 604 likely Michigan voters between April 29 and June 3 of this year, garnering data about digital identity verification in the public sector.

They also polled 605 likely voters in Arizona, 604 in Georgia, and 605 in Ohio.

“Voters in these states are on red alert about how their personal information is being used and what the government is doing to verify identity and stop fraud,” John Zogby, the founder of John Zogby Strategies, said in a statement. “At least right now, voters in these four states are concerned that government isn’t doing enough to verify digital identities and protect people’s most sensitive personal information.”

People polled trusted online retail stores to verify identity better than the public sector.

Michiganders’ top concerns were as follows:

• 77% were concerned about selling or distributing personal information to third parties.
• 64% were concerned about ensuring the government knows it’s dealing with the intended citizen rather than someone else.
• 63% of Michigan respondents preferred a government agency to integrate 3rd party service into the application process.
• 60% were concerned that someone other than them could access government benefits using their identifiable information.
• 60% were concerned about the overall accuracy of government identity verification process.

Zogby told The Center Square in a Zoom interview that there is “an unprecedented period of distrust across the board, but particularly distrust in government.”

Michigan estimates losing $8.5 billion to unemployment fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic, but LexisNexis, a fraud prevention company, says that number is closer to $11 billion. The state has disbursed over $39 billion in benefits to more than 3.3 million workers since March 15, 2020.

In fiscal year 2020-2021, Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services budget totaled $28.4 billion, nearly half of the total budget. Much of those billions are money and service transfers, including public assistance, child welfare, and medical services. The government enacts fraud prevention, but Zogby said that hackers constantly update their attacks… (Excerpt from The Michigan Star)