State residents are urged that if they received unemployment compensation benefits that they did not apply for to return those funds to the state.
Department of Labor and Industry secretary Jerry Oleskiak said in a news release that the primary target is the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program. Scammers are using identities that were previously stolen from sources outside of state agencies to file for pandemic related unemployment assistance. The victims don’t even know that their identities were stolen until they receive an unemployment compensation debit card or some correspondence from their office that they did not request.
Other signs that you may have been targeted for identity theft include:
- Someone comes to your home that you do not know and tells you that their unemployment assistance check or debit card was mailed to you by mistake.
- Someone asks you to use your bank account to deposit their unemployment assistance.
- Someone, in person or electronically, tells you that you are entitled to unemployment assistance and requests your personal identifying information.
- Someone offers to help you file for unemployment benefits for a fee.
- Someone claims to be from L&I or another government agency or office and asks for a fee or personal information to complete your application for PUA or other benefits.
- Any employer that receives notice that a claim has been filed for one or more of your employees who continued working and were not laid off or otherwise unemployed.
Secretary Oleksiak said employers should also be on the lookout for fraud linked to the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, like receiving UC correspondence referring to someone still working for them.
More than 4000 people have already filed fraudulent claims for federal assistance, but authorities say the efforts so far prevented more than $44 million from reaching the hands of fraudsters.
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