Unemployment fraud scheme: What you need to know [1]
The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) has seen a rise in fraudulent unemployment claims attempting to exploit the overall increase in unemployment insurance claims associated with COVID-19. As many as 400,000 Coloradans have been affected.
This nationwide fraud scheme involves unemployment claims filed using another person’s identity. Get a glimpse of the magnitude and seriousness in this Jan. 14 article from the Colorado Sun [3].
Many Colorado fraud victims are alerted to the scheme by receiving a U.S. Bank ReliaCard in the mail when they have not filed for unemployment. In a Jan. 14 update, the CDLE reported that fraud victims are receiving IRS 1099-G Forms for unemployment benefits they did not receive. The CDLE should be notified of the fraud, and the department will issue corrected ammended tax forms.
Anyone who has received erroneous 1099-G Forms, debit cards or pin numbers for unemployment benefits they did not request should immediately contact CDLE. See below for instructions.
Suspect someone is using your identity to collect unemployment benefits? Here’s what to do.
Were you sent a 1099-G? Here’s what to do.
Protect yourself from identity theft with a fraud alert
Fraudulent claims are widespread, are not specific to the University of Colorado, and are not connected to a breach or compromise of University of Colorado systems. The information being used by the crime’s perpetrators likely came from a large data breach sometime in the last 10 years. The CDLE suspects the scheme’s perpetrators are not stealing mail but instead working to get PIN numbers the state uses to pay out benefits.
As part of Jan. 8 U.S. Department of Labor guidance, CDLE will implement ID.me to meet federal identification requirements in the next few days. All new claimants will be required to use it to verify their identities before applying for benefits.
Tip: Never give out personally identifiable information over the phone. The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment will never contact you and ask for your Social Security number (SSN), bank account numbers, your PIN, account passwords, or any other personally identifiable information.