Lawmakers want Department of Labor to release fraud data, but officials won’t budge

Lawmakers are calling on state officials to release fraud data related to unemployment scams in New York.

Why?

Thousands of people have found out that their name, address, or social security number was used to collect unemployment benefits during the pandemic.

While the state Department of Labor set up a portal for those who received tax documents saying they needed to pay taxes on unemployment dollars they never received- some lawmakers want more done.

“We need transparency, other states including California have put out statements estimating how much fraud actually cost their state insurance fund and I think that’s important,” said Sen. George Borrello told News10NBC.

They inquired to the DOL, who told them specifics could not be provided. “We cannot give you a specific number on the amount of fraud that has been paid out as fraud is being identified every day and we continue to work with financial institutions and law enforcement partners to recover more and more of the funds that were paid to fraudsters,” the state said.

Staff Report

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