Hackers with ties to the Chinese government stole at least $20 million from U.S. taxpayer-funded COVID-19 relief benefits in more than a dozen states, the Secret Service reports.

The hacking group APT41, known as “the ‘workhorse’ of cyberespionage operations that benefit the Chinese government,” looted pandemic-related Small Business Administration loans and unemployment insurance funds, NBC News reported Monday. The theft is the U.S. government’s first publicly acknowledged incident of pandemic fraud linked to foreign, state-sponsored cybercriminals.

The Secret Service considers APT41 a “Chinese state-sponsored, cyberthreat group that is highly adept at conducting espionage missions and financial crimes for personal gain.” It is unclear if the Chinese Communist Party directed the hackers’ attack on U.S. taxpayer funds, but APT41’s targeting of government money—a move cybersecurity analysts have never seen before—is a “dangerous” and “serious” threat to U.S. national security[.]

[We never rained this much cash before either. That incentivizes a lot of innovation in scams. — Ed]