What To Do If You Experience Unemployment Fraud
It’s an all-too-familiar story in the pandemic - an unemployment claim has been fraudulently submitted in your or your employee’s name. During COVID, when many lost their jobs or were furloughed for a time, the need was great and so was the opportunity.
It’s part of my own story. Someone used my identity to claim unemployment at the end of 2020. It set me off on a flurry of activity. Below is a summary of what I learned, the advice I received from various authorities, and the best resources I found on the internet.
This link for the Federal Trade Commission’s Guide for what to do if someone uses your identity to collect unemployment compensation is really all you need. But I’ll highlight a few key steps here.
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Keep records. The best advice I got was to keep detailed notes of every call, email and report filed. Note the date, who you spoke with, and any case numbers. This will help keep you organized but also becomes a record for your case.
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Contact your state’s Unemployment Agency to alert them to the fraudulent claim. Scroll to the bottom of this Department of Labor site for a State Directory for Reporting Unemployment Identity Theft.
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Alert your employer (by email so there is a record). Copy your employer on any emails to state tax offices.
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File a police report. This was relatively quick, easy, and painless. I spoke with a detective, emailed him copies of the notices I had received and was assigned a case number that I can reference if the unemployment income becomes an issue.
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Add a one-year fraud alert to your credit with Experian, TransUnion, or Equifax. You only need to contact one of the three agencies. They will share the alert with the others. With this free alert, over the next year, whenever an account is opened in your name, the business must verify your identity. I receive phone calls to confirm that I indeed requested to open a new account.
888-909-8872
888-EXPERIAN (888-397-3742)
800-685-1111
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Regularly check your credit report. These days, your credit card company or bank may offer you regular access to your credit score in their app. If not, you can request a free copy of your credit report by contacting the credit agencies above. Monitor it as well as your bank statements and other financial statements for changes that aren’t initiated by you.
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File your taxes correctly. If you receive a 1099-G for unemployment benefits that you did not receive, contact your state agency to have a correction issued before filing your taxes. Include a copy of the police report when you file your taxes as proof that you did not receive income through unemployment.
For more information and a State Directory for Reporting Unemployment Identity Theft click on this link to the US Department of Labor’s Guide for Reporting Unemployment Identify Theft and scroll to the bottom.
How does my story end? I don’t know yet. I’ve not managed to get through to my state agency by phone nor have I heard back from them by email. I’m monitoring my credit and I’ll be on the lookout for 1099-G next January. It’s frustrating but it helps to know I’ve done all I can do for now.
If this has happened to you or one of your employees and you have any additional tips to add, you can share them with us at hello@auxilio.partners. Feel free to pass this on to employees who become victims of this kind of identity theft.