{"id":743,"date":"2020-06-01T13:16:29","date_gmt":"2020-06-01T13:16:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fraud.flywheelsites.com\/coronavirus_unemployment_scams\/"},"modified":"2020-11-09T07:30:42","modified_gmt":"2020-11-09T07:30:42","slug":"coronavirus_unemployment_scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fraud.org\/coronavirus_unemployment_scams\/","title":{"rendered":"Lost your job? Be careful ID thieves don\u2019t take your unemployment benefits, too!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest reports are historically grim: nearly 40 million Americans have been thrown out of work due to the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

For\u00a0<\/span><\/span>the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>tens of\u00a0<\/span><\/span>millions<\/span><\/span>\u00a0of newly jobless<\/span><\/span>, state unemployment insurance benefits are a lifeline that helps them keep the lights on\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>provide food for their families<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>to add salt to the wounds of the newly unemployed, circumstances are ripe for identity\u00a0<\/span><\/span>thieves<\/span><\/span>.\u00a0T<\/span><\/span>he combi<\/span><\/span>nation of\u00a0<\/span><\/span>billions of dollars in federal\u00a0<\/span><\/span>stimulus\u00a0<\/span><\/span>money flowing in to state unemployment funds and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>tens of\u00a0<\/span><\/span>millions of new claim<\/span><\/span>ants has created a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for identity thieves<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>seeking<\/span><\/span>\u00a0to steal those benefits<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the\u00a0Secret Service<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0multiple<\/a>\u00a0media<\/a>\u00a0reports<\/a>, organized rings of\u00a0criminals\u00a0are working to siphon\u00a0off unemployment\u00a0insurance payments, potentially\u00a0worth\u00a0hundreds of\u00a0millions of dollars,\u00a0intended for workers laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.\u00a0In the state of Washington, for example, scammers reportedly made off with unemployment benefits worth nearly $1.6 million in\u00a0a single month.\u00a0This scam is reportedly even affecting consumers who have not yet lost their jobs.<\/p>\n

How the scam works<\/h3>\n

Identity thieves use databases of personal information\u00a0(likely obtained via data breaches)\u00a0to create phony accounts on state unemployment insurance office websites. Once they successfully create an account, they have the benefits direct-deposited into a bank account controlled by the scammer or an accomplice.\u00a0The scammer then uses the deposited funds to purchase\u00a0untraceable\u00a0bitcoins, gift cards, or money orders. Those purchases are often performed by so-called \u201cmoney mules\u201d who may themselves be ensnared in a romance\u00a0fraud\u00a0or work-from-home\u00a0scheme run by the scammers.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve recently become unemployed,\u00a0the following steps can help\u00a0you\u00a0reduce\u00a0your risk of becoming a victim of this scam:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Log on and create a profile\u00a0on\u00a0your state unemployment office\u2019s website\u00a0as soon as you are laid off. This will reduce the window of opportunity for scammers to create fake profiles in your name and steal your unemployment benefits.\u00a0For information on your state\u2019s unemployment insurance\u00a0benefits\u00a0and\u00a0instructions on how to file a claim,\u00a0click here<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  2. If you have already created a profile with your state unemployment office, log in and verify that no one has filed a claim in your name. If you\u2019ve used a password on your profile that you\u2019ve used on other accounts, change your password to something unique that you\u00a0haven’t already\u00a0used\u00a0elsewhere.<\/li>\n
  3. If you receive communication that someone else has applied for unemployment benefits in your name or your unemployment benefits\u00a0claim\u00a0was\u00a0denied because someone else already applied,\u00a0file a fraud complaint with your state\u2019s unemployment office promptly. The U.S. Department of Labor maintains a list of state unemployment fraud hotlines at\u00a0this link<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  4. Put a credit freeze on your credit report\u00a0with the three major credit reporting bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion). If identity thieves have the personal information necessary to steal your unemployment benefits, they likely also have the information they need to take out credit or engage in other criminal activity. A credit freeze will prevent anyone from accessing your credit file\u00a0until you unfreeze it with a PIN. For more information on credit freezes,\u00a0refer to\u00a0this FAQ from the Federal Trade Commission<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  5. If you\u2019re looking for work, beware of\u00a0online ads or\u00a0unsolicited\u00a0email\u00a0and text\u00a0offers to participate in work-from-home job opportunities.\u00a0Common schemes involve offers to be a\u00a0mystery\u00a0shopper, payment processing agent, money transfer agent, or other similar jobs where you are asked to allow deposits to be made to your personal bank account. These jobs don\u2019t exist and participating\u00a0in one (even unwittingly)\u00a0could land you in legal trouble.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    If you\u2019ve been affected by an unemployment benefits fraud or any other coronavirus-related\u00a0scam,\u00a0we want to hear from you! By filing a complaint at Fraud.org via\u00a0our\u00a0secure online complaint form<\/a>, you can help law enforcement bring scammers to justice. We share complaints with our network of nearly 200 law enforcement and consumer protection agency partners who can and do put fraudsters behind bars.<\/p>\n

    Read our other Fraud Alerts here.<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    For the tens of millions of newly jobless, unemployment benefits are a lifeline. Unfortunately, scammers are after that lifeline too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1206,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[117],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fraud.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fraud.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fraud.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fraud.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fraud.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=743"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/fraud.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1209,"href":"https:\/\/fraud.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743\/revisions\/1209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fraud.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fraud.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fraud.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fraud.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}