The rise of a new type of fraudster has a top Trump administration investigator sounding the alarm as new 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.

Fraudfluencers on Social Media

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.

Consequences of 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 to 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 DOL Inspector General Anthony P. D’Esposito.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.