arbiter
JournalsAccount

Is Fraud Contagious? Social Connections and the Looting of COVID Relief Programs

John M. Griffin et al.

The Review of Financial Studies2026https://doi.org/10.1093/rfs/hhag004article
FT50UTD24AJG 4*ABDC A*
Weight
0.50

Abstract

Fraud indicators within the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a major COVID relief program, are highly geographically concentrated. ZIP codes and counties with high rates of suspicious PPP loans are strongly socially connected, with evidence that fraud spreads spatially over time through social networks. Individuals in suspicious social media groups have higher rates of PPP fraud, and socially connected ZIP codes frequently use the same specific FinTech lenders, consistent with social networks influencing detailed loan decisions. Our findings suggest that more proactive data analysis is needed for fraud prevention, detection, and prosecution to prevent the social spread of fraudulent schemes.

Open via your library →

Cite this paper

https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/rfs/hhag004

Or copy a formatted citation

@article{john2026,
  title        = {{Is Fraud Contagious? Social Connections and the Looting of COVID Relief Programs}},
  author       = {John M. Griffin et al.},
  journal      = {The Review of Financial Studies},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/rfs/hhag004},
}

Paste directly into BibTeX, Zotero, or your reference manager.

Flag this paper

Is Fraud Contagious? Social Connections and the Looting of COVID Relief Programs

Flags are reviewed by the Arbiter methodology team within 5 business days.

Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.