Report Unemployment Insurance Identity Theft Fraud
According to the FBI, it is seeing a spike in fraudulent unemployment insurance claims. To battle this rampant fraud, the United States Secret Service created a cyber fraud task force. “The mission of the task force is to prevent, detect, and mitigate complex cyber-enabled financial crimes, with the ultimate goal of arresting and convicting the most harmful perpetrators.” [1]
Unemployment insurance fraud is deeply troublesome, and it is particularly heinous when it happens through identity theft. Unemployment Insurance identity theft fraud occurs when someone’s identity has been stolen and a claim has been opened in their name.
If you have never filed a claim for unemployment insurance, IDES would not have your personal identifying information (PII) to expose it to these bad actors. Instead, perpetrators are obtaining PII through cyber hacks, social media, and online purchase of stolen PII on the dark web from data breaches.
Speaking of data breaches, you can use the lookup tool to see if you were one of the 147 million impacted from the Equifax breach.[2] If so, you may be eligible to file an extended claim on the Equifax website.
If you have not filed for an unemployment insurance claim but received a debit card or an unemployment insurance (UI Finding) letter, please call our Benefit Payment Control Division at (800) 814-0513. When prompted:
1) Select English or Spanish language option;
2) Select option #1 for claimants, and;
3) Select option #5 to report identity theft.
There are other helpful tips for recognizing and reporting identity theft on the Federal Trade Commission’s website.
Reminders
IDES offices remain closed to the public.
The extra $600 will no longer be included in your weekly benefit payments effective July 25, 2020.
[1] United States Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security. (2020, July 9) Secret Service Announces the Creation of the Cyber Fraud Task Force [Press release]. https://www.secretservice.gov/
[2] Equifax Data Breach Settlement. (2020, July 19). Retrieved from https://www.