Due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, millions of employees have continuously been laid off by companies that are experiencing a slump in business. And that may be the worst part of this pandemic for those who are just trying to get by amid the outbreak. But for the state of Colorado, the case has gotten even grimmer.
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Identity thieves are stealing unemployment benefits from laid off workers
When an ex-restaurant server in Colorado went to file for unemployment benefits, it came as a surprise that someone else was already drawing benefits in his name but in a different state. This ultimately meanr that an identity theft took place.
According to the complaint that was filed with the United States Federal Trade Commission, the unknown suspect used the server's personal information such as his name, social security number, and birth date.
According to the CNET, the server wrote: "I have contacted Social Security Administration and they said there is nothing they can do since it doesn't list what state the claim was made, therefore, I'm unable to get unemployment from a claim someone else made."
The FTC has recently received more than 100 reports of identity theft that have occured in the middle of the novel coronavirus pandemic. A handful of laid off workers, just like the sever, eventually discovered that they, too, have been victims of identity theft as they filed for unemployment.
Other workers have fallen into scammer's traps as they have tried to request unemployment benefits by accidentally giving out their personal information over to unscrupulous individuals instead of the appropriate state agency.
Do not be a victim of identity theft
Although coronavirus stimulus checks rolling out this week, these are just one-time payments. Workers that have been laid off will greatly rely on these unemployment benefits to get by as mass shutdowns across the country cotinue. More than 6 million people around the country have already filed unemployment benefits.
Another laid-off restaurant worker has also been trying to reach government agencies, but the experience has been a struggle--especially when she tried to contact the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance.
The worker wrote a complaint to the FTC saying that "I cannot get through to the unemployment department right now due to the high volume of applicants to try to investigate and fix this. I will continue to try and contact the department, but needed to let it be known that the account that is active is not mine."
At the moment, it is unclear as to how many laid off workers have experienced identity theft. Data from the FTC only include complaints from those who used terms about the coronavirus paramedic that are written on the description of the situation. This means that there are additional complaints that are currently not included in the data provided.
