False Unemployment Claim and Identity Theft

May 5, 2021 5:53 PM

I received notice from my employer that a fraudulent unemployment claim was filed in my name. I’ve filed a fraud report with my state and frozen my credit with all three credit agencies. What else should I do to mitigate the damage from the possible identity theft?
posted by Betelgeuse to Work & Money (8 answers total)

When this happened to me last year I also got a debit card in the mail that I didn't sign up for that was apparently related to the scammers trying to collect the money from the state. Keep an eye out for anything like that.

In addition to everything you listed, I also filed a police report just in case (mostly because I was concerned about the debt card).

Finally, based on suggestions I received in the thread linked above, I signed up for USPS Informed Delivery service since it gave me a heads up on what mail I was supposed to be receiving each day.
posted by NormieP at 6:06 PM on May 5, 2021 [1 favorite]

Have you filed last year's taxes yet? They might also try to do that at the same time if you're going to be owed money.
posted by Candleman at 6:12 PM on May 5, 2021 [1 favorite]

If you haven't already, create your online accounts for the IRS and Social Security Administration before the bad guys do.
posted by davcoo at 6:26 PM on May 5, 2021 [7 favorites]

In this afternoon's mail, I just received four documents that add up to the same scam.

I contacted the state and my employer. The latter confirmed that I'm the third in our company of 30 people to have a similar fraudulent claim filed.

I'm not sure what the endgame is here. The fraudster would have to have my employer say "yes, he worked for us, yes we fired him, yes he is eligible for UI" and after all that, still have some way to collect the money. Three out of four of those ain't happenin'.

Confused, but yeah. Scammers gonna scam.
posted by sourcequench at 7:50 PM on May 5, 2021

You can also file a report at IdentityTheft.gov, which is equivalent to a police report and usually less work. Here are their specific recommendations for Unemployment Insurance Fraud.
posted by bunnysquirrel at 12:00 AM on May 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

FWIW, there are leaks everywhere. I had a brand new debit card issued by California for my unemployment benefits. NEVER been used outside, so the only ones who knew the number should be the state, the bank, and me. And suddenly there's a Doordash order debit on it. (I don't use Doordash) Reported it, of course, and got a new card. But it's WEIRD. Did they just randomly GUESSED my card number? Doubt it. There's a leak somewhere, and it's not from me.
posted by kschang at 12:37 AM on May 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

Happened to me too! I filled all the documents that I was told to do about 6 weeks ago. I've received nothing from any government agency about the documents I provided. Fun!

I have no other issues so far - nothing with taxes, credit used, money stolen, anything.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:10 AM on May 6, 2021

I had a brand new debit card issued by California for my unemployment benefits. NEVER been used outside, so the only ones who knew the number should be the state, the bank, and me. And suddenly there's a Doordash order debit on it.

My husband had something similar happen (although not Doordash – I think it was a Walmart in Florida). It took an annoyingly long time to get the issue resolved.
posted by Lexica at 1:06 PM on May 6, 2021