so admittedly having only read the article, I'm familiar with the theory that there's a number of fraud organizations out there that were in possession of the most vital personal data (name/DOB/SSN) that submitted false claims in 2020 during the earliest stages of the covid19 response, and got payments redirected to money mule ACH deposit accounts.
this happened in more locations than just WA.
one of the sketchiest things you can find on the internet, if you take time to research it, is the number of scammers posting "job openings" for things like a "accounts processing executive" for full WFH jobs. a certain percentage of gullible or entry level people who are too naive to know better fall for it. the general concept is to create a legit US domestic bank account that can receive ACH transfers and then forward the money onward somewhere else. usually ending up in some form of overseas account or cryptocurrency from which it cannot be retrieved.