How to Deal With Unemployment Scams

Silas Vieira

May 13, 2021

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As the global pandemic has kept its hold on the world, many countries have established assistance programs to help individuals who find themselves unemployed or in need of assistance. Here in the United States, assistance programs have been established at the national, state, county, and municipal levels. While it’s reassuring to have such a wide range of support options available, the wide availability of said programs also offer more opportunities to criminals.

As cyber security professionals, we know that most people have already had their information compromised in one way or another; it is just a matter of whether the criminals choose to buy/use it or not. If you think you’re safe, you should think again. Two writers for CBS News hired a security firm to find their personal information for sale on the dark web… and the security experts were successful in their mission. Nobody is safe from this type of crime; we’ve even had members of our own team be victimized by these scams recently.

Road sign that says: Stolen data for sale, Next 1.5 miles, Data breach Historical Museum

According to the FTC, reports of personal information being misused to apply for government documents or benefits were received a total of 23,213 times in 2019. In 2020, that number rose to 406,375 – a shocking 1750% increase. This marks a stark transition from simple transaction-based identify theft to a more sophisticated form with serious implications for the victim. Experian states that the effects of this advanced form of identity theft range between damaged credit, financial debts, criminal charges, legal proceedings, and lost time/money. The IRS warns everyone to keep an eye out for key signs of identity theft. You may have fallen victim to one of these scams if you:

Received an official government communication, from any state or program, regarding claims or payments you did not file for.
Received tax documents (such as form 1099-G) outlining benefits you did not get, or outlining an amount greater than you received.
Notice from your employer indicating inquiries about unemployment claims.

If you suspect that you have fallen victim to an unemployment or identity theft scam, you can start to fight back by going to IdentityTheft.gov and establishing a recovery plan; this website is the federal government’s one-stop resource for identity theft victims.