Scammer goes to the dog, busted in ID theft

The dog did nothing — but its owner stole its name to carry out a $1.4 million COVID-19 identity fraud scheme, the feds said Wednesday.

Investigators say they sniffed out Bronx resident Elvin German’s scam partly because he kept using the name of his pet, Benji, as the answer to a security question on numerous bogus applications for COVID-related unemployment benefits.

German, 41, filled out 255 unemployment applications with personal information stolen from others, including Social Security numbers, addresses and phone numbers, prosecutors wrote.

German received individual payouts often in excess of $17,000, say the feds.

But there was a ruff giveaway to German’s alleged scam.

“German typically used the same IP address and security question and answer — the name of family dog, Benji — to illegally submit applications,” said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss.

A search of German’s residence found $7,000 in cash, a computer loaded to the state Labor Department’s unemployment benefits page with information on four stolen identities open in a computer file and — most damningly — a dog wearing a collar inscribed with the name “Benji.”

German was released on $75,000 bond. His attorney did not respond to an inquiry.

The Labor Department is facing an unprecedented identity theft crime wave tied to coronavirus relief.

New York State has identified more than 521,000 fraudulent unemployment benefit claims during the coronavirus pandemic, preventing fraudsters from stealing more than $6.4 billion in benefits, according to the Labor Department. Most of the bogus claims were discovered before any money was issued, the state says.

Since the beginning of the pandemic New York has paid out more than $73 billion in benefits to more than 4.3 million New Yorkers — a sum that exceeds 30 typical years of benefits.