Fraudulent Unemployment Insurance Claims

Dear Colleagues,

The following is a very important message from NYSUT concerning recent fraudulent unemployment claims filed in the names of some school employees.  Steps #4 and 5 are most important for you to follow if you are a victim of a fraudulent claim.  Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns.
Stay well,
Rob

Begin forwarded message:

From: Delores Cook <delores.cook@nysut.org>
Date: Jun 22, 2020 at 2:51 PM
Subject: Response to Fraudulent Unemployment Insurance Claims


TO:        Local, Chapter and RC Presidents
FROM:  Matt Jacobs, Regional Staff Director
DATE:  June 22, 2020
RE:       Response to Fraudulent Unemployment Insurance Claims  
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As you may have heard, there has been a spate of data breaches across the state that have resulted in fraudulent unemployment claims being filed in the names of some school employees. So far, I am not aware of any members in our region that have been targeted yet, but this has been spreading rapidly and is likely to occur in Nassau in the near future.
 
Following a conversation with Jacqueline Kagan, the Director of the Investigations Unit at the NYS Department of Labor, NYSUT wants you to be aware of the steps that should be taken immediately by any members whose security has been compromised by fraudulent Unemployment Insurance claims filed in their names.
 

1. All impacted employees should immediately notify their Local President and the Superintendent or other appropriate management official.
2. That manager needs to e-mail Ms. Kagan  at jacqueline.kagan@labor.ny.gov to inform her of the breach.
3. In most cases the DOL will already know about or suspect that a false claim was filed, but this step will confirm it. It will ensure that all steps are taken to protect the employee from exposure regarding the claim and protect their records with the Department of Labor.
4. Irrespective of whether DOL has flagged it and taken action, the employee is the victim of a crime. In some cases, the employee will actually learn about the breach from the FBI or other authority. If so, they can avoid the next step. If not, and the false application is learned about when they receive notice from DOL indicating that a claim was filed, then the employee should immediately file a police report.
5. The employee must immediately thereafter file an alert with the FTC at https://www.identitytheft.gov/. Completing this form is the best way to ensure that the 3 credit bureaus are aware and that steps are taken to prevent additional use of the data to open up credit cards, loans, etc., in the employee’s name. When completing the form information should be shown regarding how to take those steps. Further, any victim should review their credit records to ensure no other false accounts have been created. The victim should also monitor their credit accounts going forward. There are discounts and program available through NYSUT Member Benefits, should anyone inquire.  Also, if participating in the Legal Service Plan, members should be able to receive assistance for clearing up other false claims that may exist in the credit report.
6. It’s important to note that in this particular fraud cycle, it is unlikely the breach came from the respective employer. Rather, central database hacks are more likely the source of the breach. For example, we recently learned that the NYS Office of Technology Information Services was victimized in January. It’s likely that this may have exposed large databases of current and former public employee information (State and Local). Certainly, the employer should always be asked to confirm that this is the case.
7. NYSUT OGC has reviewed what is known about the fraudulent claims at this time. It does not appear that there is any immediate cause of action that can be brought against any public employer based on what is currently known.

 
Matt Jacobs
NYSUT Nassau Regional Staff Director
(516) 496-2035 (Office)
(516) 319-7065 (Mobile)
Matthew.Jacobs@nysut.org