There was a type of identity theft happening over the last year that many didn’t see coming. It involved unemployment benefits, and someone cashing in on them without the person’s knowledge.
The problem is that many of those impacted didn’t find out until tax time – when they received documents for filing.
A News10NBC investigation revealed that there were thousands of individuals fraudulently collecting unemployment benefits in other people’s names. It started last June when they started hearing from teachers who never applied for unemployment, but were receiving determination letters or cash cards with benefits.
It’s still happening.
“I haven’t worked in almost 15 years so at first, I thought this is silly, someone made a really huge mistake here,” Bonnie Slack told News10NBC. “The policeman that visited us said it’s huge, it’s all over.”
“They said, someone is using your social security number to draw unemployment and it looks like they’ve gotten 13 weeks,” another woman remembered, after she was furloughed for a week.
The Department of Labor denied News10NBC an interview, and instead provided short answers via email to questions around it. Click here to see those answers.
For those who receive an incorrect 1099-G, Department of Labor officials say they should contact the state agency that issued it to get a correct one mailed out.
RELATED READ: In-depth investigation into fraudulent unemployment claims (News10NBC)
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to [email protected].