The safety and security of your sensitive information is our top priority. The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry has reported that fraudulent claims filed via identity theft are on the rise nationally in an unprecedented way.
Below are some warning signs that a fraudulent unemployment claim was filed involving your company:
- You receive paperwork/notice for an employee who never worked for your company. We hear employers say: “I don’t know why this person would have entered me as their employer. I never heard of this person.” The answer is: because it probably wasn’t a person. It was probably a robot filing multiple claims at a time and choosing random Pennsylvania employers. Mark “Never worked here” on the form and send it back to the PA Department of Labor & Industry.
- You receive paperwork/notice for an employee who is still employed by your company. Talk to the employee to ask if he/she opened a claim. Most times, they have no idea this is happening and are unaware that their identity is being used by a fraudster. If they did not file the unemployment claim, instruct the employee to report the fraud to the PA Department of Labor & Industry. The fraud reporting links have recently been updated:
Reporting unemployment claim fraud can also be completed over the phone by calling the PA UC Fraud Hotline at 800-692-7469.
- You receive paperwork for yourself. Your identity was stolen and you should report the fraud to the PA Department of Labor & Industry using the appropriate method, as mentioned above.
It has been advised that if you do receive paperwork, that does not necessarily mean that payments have or will be made on that claim. Regardless, it is important that you contact the PA Department of Labor & Industry as soon as possible. In the end, you will not be charged for benefits paid to fraudsters through identity theft. If payments are not stopped upfront, then there will be an overpayment set up when the situation is investigated. As always, overpayments are credited to your account, and you are not charged for benefits that were overpaid.
Paytime is constantly providing ongoing support through our IT Department, who constantly monitoring for new frauds, scams, and ongoing threats and will continue to proactively keep our clients updated. To see how we are helping protect our customers from unemployment fraud, or for any other related questions, contact us today.
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