Moments of crisis are times for people to come together and help one another. Whether that is consoling friends or family after events like 9-11, or social distancing and wearing protective gear during this current outbreak of COVID-19. However, whenever crisis strikes, there are always those looking to take advantage of the situation, no matter the cost to others. While most have been working to stay safe and watching with uncertainty as the markets and economy wain; others have been targeting the unsuspecting to make an easy buck.
With the rise of record level unemployment, chaos has ensued within state employment departments across the country as claim filings have hit record levels. As a result, unemployment fraud has been on the rise and heavily targeting very specific areas. Recently, the U.S. Secret Service identified a sophisticated crime ring based out of Nigeria as the most likely culprits behind this growing rate of fraudulent unemployment claims. The group has initiated the fraudulent claims through access to personal information stolen from American citizens.
According to the Secret Service, the group has focused primarily on states that have struggled to keep up with the overwhelming number of unemployment claims during the current pandemic. The issue was recently brought to light as victims who have not filed for unemployment were being contacted by their employer’s Human Resources department inquiring about the claim. While several states have been hit particularly hard, Washington state has been the primary target of these fraudulent claims (other states include Florida, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and Wyoming).
If you or someone you know believes they have been a victim of unemployment fraud, please review the steps below to help protect yourself.
Steps to Protect Your Financial Identity & Credit History
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Step One – Contact HR
- Contact your organizations HR staff to coordinate and report the incident to your employer.
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Step Two – Contact Your State Employment Department
- For Oregon residents, call the Oregon Employment Department at 1-877-668-3204 or send an email to the Fraud Hotline. For Washington residents, call the WA State Employment Security Dept. (ESD) at 800-246-9763 to report the fraud or do so online.
- You will want the following information ready for identity verification:
- Last 4 of your SSN
- Date of birth
- Address, current phone #
- Information on how you learned a claim was filed on your behalf
- For Oregon residents, call the Oregon Employment Department at 1-877-668-3204 or send an email to the Fraud Hotline. For Washington residents, call the WA State Employment Security Dept. (ESD) at 800-246-9763 to report the fraud or do so online.
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Step Three – Police Report
- File an online or non-emergency report with the agency whose jurisdiction you live in.
- 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.
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Step Four – The Three Major Credit Bureaus
- Obtain your free credit reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion at www.annualcreditreport.com or call 1-877-322-8228
- 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.
- Experian 1-888-397-3742
- TransUnion 1-800-680-7289
- Equifax 1-888-766-0008
- 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.
- Credit Freeze – 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. Below are links to freeze your credit with all three credit bureaus.
- Equifax: https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit-freeze/
- Experian: https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.html
- TransUnion: https://www.transunion.com/credit-freeze
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Step Five – FTC & IRS
- File a short report with the FTC and give them the case number for your local police report https://www.identitytheft.gov/(good info at ftc.gov/idtheft)
- Consider setting up an IRS account at https://www.irs.gov/payments/view-your-tax-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 at https://www.e-verify.gov/employees(The next wave of this cyber-attack may be IRS tax fraud.)
- All of this reporting seems redundant, but we want to 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.
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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.
Protecting Your Data and Identity
While you may be done dealing with the fallout from this unemployment fraud incident, you may choose to further protect yourself from cyber-crime. Below are some steps and resources that the cyber-crime detectives recommend for anyone who may like additional protection for themselves and their families.
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Control Your Own Information
- Services that lock credit information can help, though you must provide companies with your own personal data, potentially creating more risk.
- There are many sites that will walk you through securing your own data. You can google “how to do opt-outs and credit freeze” or use some of the third-party resources below. These are not associated with the City, but they are trusted resources that other victims have used successfully.
- https://Inteltechniques.com/links.htmlThe workbook linked on the right side of the page will walk you through a credit freeze and removing your data from data brokers and “stalker sites. The “Privacy Checklist” is a printable guide for securing devices, accounts, and personal data. You don’t need to buy anything on this page, we just want to make use of their free guides.
- https://ssd.eff.org/enThe Electronic Frontier Foundation has several guides for privacy and security.
- Most attackers use data obtained from previous internet breaches of hotel chains, entertainment services, and other widely-used digital productivity tools. That is why it is important to never use the same password twice. Get a password manager and use Multi-factor authentication: https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-password-managers/
- Use Multi-Factor Authentication (a secondary security code) on your most important accounts: https://authy.com/guides/
- Most importantly, be vigilant and watch out for phishing emails, vishing fraud calls, and even things like mail/package theft, which can lead to your identity being compromised
- Be wary of free apps/offers, which could be mining your data.
- Additional Guides:
**Thank you to the Seattle Police Department for helping provide the above information.**
