State Unemployment Scams

Thousands of Ohioans are learning that someone used their name and social security number to file unemployment claims.  Many receive a surprise Form 1099-G reporting unemployment benefits they never even applied for, let alone received.  Other times, it surfaces when they or their employer receive notice of an application being filed with the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services (ODJFS).

If you learn about fraudulent use of your information for unemployment, report it on their website at  www.unemployment.ohio.gov.  If you receive a 1099-G for amounts you didn’t receive, they should issue a corrected 1099-G to you showing zero, but even if they don’t, you don’t need to pay income tax on it.

How you want to proceed from there is up to you, but now you know your social security number is out in cyberspace.  A few things you might consider:

• Sign up for an identity protection service such as LifeLock, Experian, etc.; some organizations, such as AAA or AARP for example, also offer these services to members;
• Put a security freeze on your credit report with the big three reporting agencies, Experian, Equifax or Transunion; and/or
• Enroll in the IRS IP-PIN program that we discussed in a January blog post.

On a personal note, I received one of the claim verification notices myself, so I feel your pain!  I’ve always resisted signing up for something like LifeLock or Experian, wondering what happens if then THEY get hacked?!  But even before this incident, I was resigning myself to the idea that  ID leaks are inevitable in our ever-increasingly online world, and it’s only a question of when it will happen, not if.  Receiving that notice was the trigger for me to finally bite the bullet and sign up.

Whether you are hit with this particular fraud or not, we encourage you to enroll in the IRS’ IP-PIN program.  See our January 2021 blog post or the IRS website for more information.