GAO assessment on identity theft and disaster fraud in disaster assistance programs

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall— (1) conduct an assessment of improper and potentially fraudulent Federal disaster assistance for individuals made to survivors of major disasters declared in 2020 and 2021, including through identity theft; and (2) submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report that describes— (A) the prevalence of improper and potentially fraudulent Federal disaster assistance for individuals made to registrants who used invalid information to apply for disaster assistance, including through identity theft; (B) the number of disaster survivors whose claims for Federal disaster assistance for individuals were denied due to another individual filing a fraudulent application using their personal identifying information; (C) the adequacy of existing fraud prevention protocols in place on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s online application for Federal disaster assistance for individuals; and (D) recommendations for improving the identity verification protocols in place for Federal disaster assistance for individuals.