Keystone Today

With many people having yet to return to work since the pandemic shut the country down, Pennsylvania has continued to see a rise in fraudulent unemployment claims, according to the Department of Labor and Industry and the Pennsylvania State Police. 

This past July, the state of Pennsylvania issued a warning about a significant increase in the amount of unemployment fraud schemes. At the time, reports of fraud topped out at 2,000 per week, with 75% winding up being legitimate reports.

"Pennsylvania has experienced a surge in fraudulent unemployment claims filed by organized crime rings using stolen identities," the Department of Labor and Industry posted on Facebook back in July. "Please remain vigilant to any social or unauthorized communication channels asking for personal info."

WGAL 8 reported in July that scammers have been using information from data breaches to obtain personal identification and apply for unemployment. People have then gotten letters or checks from the Department of Labor and Industry for an unemployment claim they never applied for. State officials blamed data breaches outside of government control.

"Since the pandemic began last year, fraudsters have gotten and used individuals' personal identifying information (PII) obtained from data breaches outside of state government to file for unemployment and attempt to steal those benefits. Victims oftentimes are completely unaware their PII was compromised, sometimes year before," a statement from DOL said, as reported by WGAL 8. 

A fraudulent claim was made in the name of state Rep. Natalie Mihalek (R-Allegheny County) who received a letter in the mail saying she was ineligible for unemployment but may be eligible for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) for the self-employed, WPXI reported. 

 “I was obviously surprised and frustrated. I share in the frustration with so many who’ve been victim(s) of fraud with our unemployment system,” Mihalek said. “Your info is out there, could be compromised. It could lead to something worse. Who knows what else.”

Officials report the surge in fraud occurred shortly after the state rolled out a new system of filing for unemployment that made access easier, The Morning Call reported. 

USA Today reported that scammers have been able to collect more than $36 billion in fraudulent unemployment claims throughout the United States, and Pennsylvania is one of the states being hit the hardest,. Pennsylvania is also the target of foreign scams as well. 

According to WPXI, the Department of Labor and Industry responded about the rise in claims as being caused by the national attentional received from rolling out the new system, and every state was currently having issues with spikes in unemployment fraud claims and attempts. 

If you think you are a victim of unemployment fraud, call the PA Fraud Hotline at 1-800-692-7469.