Unemployment Insurance Fraud Alert - Businesses Beware!
Recently, the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce became aware of widespread unemployment insurance fraud targeting businesses and individuals in the Lubbock area. Scammers are stealing peoples’ identities on the dark web and filing fraudulent unemployment insurance claims using the stolen identities.
Please help us combat this by doing the following:
- Keep a close eye on mail and other correspondence related to unemployment insurance that comes to your business
- If you receive a letter that you think is fraudulent, DO NOT throw it away or disregard
- Keep the letter and call the Texas Workforce Commission at 800-628-5115 to report the scam, and/or use the contact information listed at the bottom of the Texas Workforce Commission notice below
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| The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) is seeing an increase in unemployment insurance fraud. Unemployment insurance fraud creates waste and impacts the employer-supported fund TWC uses to pay unemployment benefits to the claimants who need them. TWC takes unemployment insurance fraud seriously and works with federal partners and other state unemployment agencies to identify, investigate, prosecute, and prevent it. If you suspect unemployment insurance fraud, please access the Reporting Fraud webpage. Bad actors are taking advantage of the availability of stolen personal information on the internet to file fraudulent unemployment insurance claims. Personal information is often stolen through successful phishing schemes or by hackers breaching the databases of organizations; such as banks, online retailers, credit bureaus, and government agencies. TWC has not experienced any data breaches, and the personal and business information of claimants and employers remains secure. TWC routinely audits unemployment claims for signs of fraud. If we confirm fraud on a claim, we immediately lock the claim and begin an investigation. TWC has also partnered with ID.me. ID.me is a federally certified identity provider and specializes in digital identity protection. If a claim appears suspicious, we lock the claim and require the claimant to verify their identity with ID.me. More information about ID.me is available here. To learn more about unemployment insurance fraud, please visit the Unemployment Benefits Identity Theft webpage. TWC asks all employers to be aware of the threat unemployment insurance fraud poses, remember that employees are usually innocent victims, and take steps to help us discover and investigate unemployment insurance fraud. If you receive a Notice of Application for Unemployment Benefits for one or more of your current employees or a Notice of Application for Unemployment Benefits for a Social Security number for one or more of your current employees but under a different name and/or address, respond to the notice that the claimant(s) is still working and then access the Reporting Fraud webpage immediately. We will lock the claim(s) and begin an investigation. If you receive a Notice of Application for Unemployment Benefits for people who never worked for you, respond to the notice that the claimant(s) never worked for you and then access the Reporting Fraud webpage immediately. If one or more of your employees reports that they received material from TWC for an unemployment claim they say they did not initiate, access the Reporting Fraud webpage immediately. If you have difficulties accessing the Reporting Fraud webpage, please send an email to TWC.fraud@twc.state.tx.us or leave a message at the TWC Fraud Hotline at 800-252-3642. |
In fact, this is happening not only in Texas but across the country. Earlier today the US Department of Labor (USDOL) issued guidance to states on identity verification, eligibility for unemployment insurance claims, protecting identity theft victims. The full release and additional guidance can be found here.
