The New York State Labor Department is blocking more than a billion dollars in unemployment insurance fraud. 

More than 42,000 fraudulent claims have been made during the pandemic since mid-March. 

The department says it's referred more fraud cases to federal prosecutors over the past five months than it has in more than the last 10 years combined.

They warn anyone who received an official message about unemployment benefits, but did not apply to report it to the department immediately.