Unemployment Fraud on the Rise in Washington

With the increase in unemployment benefits, unemployment fraud is on the rise. The Seattle Times reported that over 700 fraudulent claims were reported this month, adding up to over $1.6 million.  

How does this impact employers and what should you do?
Pay attention! When you receive a notification of an unemployment claim…read it! Have you laid off that individual? Are they still working for you? Many employers, especially under the current conditions with layoffs abounding, are inclined to dismiss the notification, as they don’t plan to contest the claim. This is dangerous, as it may be the only way the fraud is identified in a timely manner. While it may take time to sort through the paperwork, track who is working, who is not, how many hours, etc., it is worth the effort!

Contact employees! Communicate with impacted employees to verify the information. Did they apply? If they did not apply, refer to the reporting steps below. If they did apply and they are still working, then you have a completely different disciplinary issue to discuss with the HR Hotline! 

Notify IT! Let your IT department know of the fraudulent claim so that system security can be checked to ensure that the data breach did not come from your end. If it did, it should be addressed immediately and a data security attorney or your cyber security insurer should be contacted, and employees must be notified.

Report it! Employers should promptly notify the Employment Security Department (ESD) that the employee is still working, and the claim is suspected to be fraudulent.

Provide the steps below to affected employees. Cyber-crime investigators are recommending the following steps for anyone who knows, or believes, they are a victim of unemployment fraud:

Step One – Contact HR

• Contact your organizations HR staff to coordinate and report the incident to your employer.  

Step Two – Contact WA State ESD

• Call the WA State Employment Security Dept (ESD) at 800-246-9763 to report the fraud or contact ESD via an online form.

Step Three – File a Police Report

• File an online or non-emergency report with the agency whose jurisdiction you live in.
• If you live in Seattle you can file an online report.
• Start keeping a file folder or journal with the information from this incident, including any case numbers. Some government services and accommodations are available to victims of identity theft that are not available to the general public, such as getting certain public records sealed.

Step Four – Contact Credit Bureaus

• Obtain your free credit reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion at Annual Credit Report.
• Report to the credit bureaus that the fraudulent claim was made using your identity and provide them with the case number from your police report. You can have a fraud alert put on your identity or freeze your credit. Doing either is free by law.
• A fraud alert is free and will make it harder for someone to open new accounts in your name. To place a fraud alert, contact one of the three credit bureaus. That company must tell the other two.
• Check your credit activity at least once a year. As a victim of identity-theft you have the right to check it monthly if you choose.
• Consider placing a Credit Freeze on your report or any dependents in your household. If you do not have upcoming large purchases, such as a home, you may want to freeze your credit for more protection. It is free and you can do it yourself.

Step Five – FTC & IRS

• File a short report with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and give them the case number for the local police report. More info here.
• Consider setting up an IRS account. If you create an account with your social security number, it will prevent criminals from creating an account using your identity.
• Another option is to lock your social security number (the next wave of this cyber-attack may be IRS tax fraud.)
• All of this reporting seems redundant, but you should make sure you are recognized as a victim by the local, state, and federal government. Also, the more people who report it, the more support Law Enforcement agents will get to pursue the perpetrators.

Step Six – Keep Your Notes

• Hang on to any notes, copies of emails, etc. This is the paper trail that you can reference if you face any identity issues or locate inaccuracies on your credit history sometime in the future.

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If you have reason to believe someone has applied for unemployment benefits using your information or used a scam to obtain your private information, the ESD urges you to make a report at esd.wa.gov/unemployment/unemployment-benefits-fraud.

Please be aware that you will need the following information:

1. Your full name
2. Last 4 numbers of your Social Security number (never put your full SSN in an email)
3. Your address
4. Your date of birth
5. Brief description of how you found out an imposter-fraud claim was filed using your information
6. Please let us know: If an imposter-fraud claim was filed using your information, do you give us permission to deny and cancel it?

Additional steps you can take if you believe you are a victim of fraud:

• Go to the FTC identity theft website: www.identitytheft.gov for resources on reporting
• Request your free credit reports via www.annualcreditreport.com and review them for other fraudulent activities
• Go to atg.wa.gov/recovering-identity-theft-or-fraud for additional tips from the Washington State Attorney General