By Aaron Allen
The Seattle Medium
Much to her surprise, Ann Wilson, a business manager at a small, local business, received a call from her human resource manager about a recent unemployment claim that was filed in her name. Wilson’s, who have been working throughout the COVID-19 crisis without interruption, initial response was ‘what unemployment claim?’ The HR manager then forwarded a letter from the Washington State Employment Security Department (ESD) indicating that she has filed a claim on March 22, 2020.
The letter, which was received by the company a month and a half after the claim was initiated, asked if the company wanted Wilson to be put on “standby” status, which meant that she wouldn’t have to look for work in order to receive benefits due to the COVID-19 crisis.
“I was shocked,” says Wilson. “My social security number and name were compromised with the Washington State Employment Security.”
“Now, I’m having to spend a lot of time calling everybody — my bank, credit bureaus, employment security, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), and the police department – to file reports and claims, and for what?” says Wilson. “I am a victim of identity theft, and it’s frustrating.”
Unfortunately, Wilson is not alone. According to ESD, fraudsters have stolen identities of thousands of Washingtonians from outside sources and have attempted to apply for unemployment using these stolen identities.
Due to the sheer amount of unemployed people in the state and the claims being applied for because of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the large amounts of fraudulent claims, ESD’s system has been overwhelmed causing a temporary shut down in the system affecting the lives of legitimate applicants as they wait to learn what is to become of this.
“Since the start of May and particularly in the past week the Employment Security Department has seen a significant rise in reports of imposter fraud,” says Suzi LeVine, Commissioner of the Washington State Employment Security Department. “This is where bad actors have stolen Washingtonians’ personal information from sources outside of the agency.”
Due to the large number of fraudulent claims it made it difficult for those whose identities were stolen to connect with the ESD system for information as Wilson discovered.
“These are very difficult times,” says Wilson. “So many people were filing fraudulent claims that I heard that the system had broken down and that they had to shut down the system because they had so many fraudulent reports.”
According to government officials from various municipalities in the state speaking on anonymity, one of the hardest hit demographic groups were essential workers and first responders like police officers, firefighters and other government agency workers. Because these individual’s personal information is public, officials claim that they were easy targets for cyber thieves.
Police officers like 38-year Seattle Police veteran John Hayes, whose identity was stolen, says that he was notified by police investigators of the crime committed against him, where cyber thieves used his information to set up fraudulent accounts.
“You always think as law enforcement maybe you’re one step ahead and you feel as if you protected yourself in the right way,” says Hayes. “People who do these types of crimes, where they get into your secure parts of living like your bank accounts, your social security number, all of these things, you’re reminded of the fact that when these types of crimes happen you feel vulnerable.”
According to the Seattle Police Department, “Victims, who have not filed unemployment claims, have received notification from their employer’s Human Resources department, or the Washington State Employment Security Department, indicating an unemployment claim has been filed on their behalf.”
“This is such a difficult and unprecedented time, and unfortunately criminals use situations like these to try and gain advantage,” says Commissioner LaVine. “While our agency is working around the clock to quickly get benefits out to Washingtonians who need them, we also are maintaining vigilance and taking action to combat fraudulent activities so we may pay out legitimate claims and block those who seek to do harm.”
Sharika Monroe, who was a part-time employee with the City of Tukwila’s Parks and Recreation Department until she was furloughed and later laid off, says that an unemployment claim was filed in her name as well.
Monroe, a mother of four, who also maintains a full-time job in Seattle, received an email from her employer that said, “There have been several cases within the city, including myself and [named removed for privacy]. We are notifying you that your information has been compromised.”
“They were able to get my social security number, they created a whole other account and were filing weekly for about two weeks,” said Monroe.
“Authorities contacted me and provided me with an email address and phone number to contact the Employment Security Department and report the fraud. I went ahead and emailed them, they sent me an email back stating, ‘thank you for the update there has been no further activity and that nothing will be held against me.””
As the victims try to reclaim their lives after this devastating attempt of fraud, victims like officer Hayes are warning the general public to be vigilant in keeping their personal information safeguarded.
“There are a few things I would like the public to know,” says Hayes. “Number one, do not be ashamed if this happens to you. Act right away once you find out. Two, go through the steps to protect yourself, use the steps in the SPD Blotter and protect yourself in advance and do not be afraid to talk to someone.”
Federal, State and Local authorities, the Employment Securities Department and the Seattle Police Cyber-Crime division have been working diligently to investigate the crimes perpetrated against Washingtonians and have come up with recommendations and steps for anyone who may be a victim or knows anyone who may be a victim of unemployment fraud.
