Exclusive | Senator demands crackdown on fraud-fluencers who boast online about stealing from taxpayers

WASHINGTON — They don’t even try to hide it.The rise of so-called “fraud-fluencers” who openly brag online about swindling money from taxpayers and encourage their followers to do the same has alarmed good government crusaders.Sen.Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who helms the DOGE Caucus, is urging the Trump administration to both turn up the heat on “fraud-fluencers” and study their tactics.“Scammers I’ve deemed ‘fraud-fluencers’ are putting the ‘con’ in online content and flooding their followers’ feeds with step-by-step guides on how to exploit government programs and steal your hard-earned taxpayer dollars,” Ernst explained to The Post.“If these fraud-fluencers want to be famous, I’m happy to make their wish come true by sharing their posts with the investigators at GAO [Government Accountability Office],” she went on.

“We’ve got to ratio the folks running these rackets and make their next profile pic a mugshot.”Below are examples of some of the most brazen fraud-fluencers to hit Ernst’s radar.In a 2020 YouTube video that garnered more than half a million views six years ago, Memphis-born rapper Nuke Bizzle (real name Fontrell Antonio Baines) crowed about ripping off tens of thousands in your money.“And I just woke up to 300 Gs.Stole 60K off an SBA.

It’s time to ball like the NBA,” he rapped.“I’m swiping 10K a day.

Counting up bills like a CPA.”The rap he performed was titled “EDD,” short for “Employment Development Department.”The Justice Department charged Baines that October with stealing $1.2 million in unemployment benefits using other people’s identities.He ultimately pleaded guilty in July 2022 to one count of mail fraud as well as unrelated drug and weapons charges.He was sentenced that December to six years and five months in prison.Leonel Moreno, a Venezuelan TikToker, openly boasted of sneaking into the US illegally thanks to “Papa Biden” and encouraged other migrants to do the same.“I d...