Unemployment Compensation (UC) fraud has increased exponentially with the roll out of the state’s new benefits system and continues to be an ongoing issue. Although not as prevalent as it was in the past, fraudulent claims are still being filed by fraudsters. Labor and Industry (L&I) is aware and are actively looking at placing additional security measures in place. These fraudsters are using personal information they’ve purchased off of the dark web, which have occurred through previous data breaches. Data breaches are in the news on a regularly. Examples of some large data breaches include, Equifax, Adobe, eBay, Marriott International, Yahoo, Target, and T-Mobile.
If you’re receiving unemployment information for employees who are actively employed by your business, we suggest asking them if they have filed for UC. If they did not file for UC the following steps must be completed in order to shut down the claim:
1. Do NOT assume a claim is fraudulent. Before completing any of these steps please ensure you have verified with the claimant that they did open an unemployment claim in the state of PA. If the claimant was never employed by your company, then follow steps 3-5 below and assume it’s fraudulent.
2. The employee should report the fraud to L&I through this link as identity theft: a. Pennsylvania’s Unemployment Compensation (UC) Benefits System (pa.gov)
3. If you receive a Separation Information Request from our office which is a fraudulent claim, please complete and submit as fraudulent. (New Step)
a. Our auditors utilize this information in conjunction with all of the other steps to track the claim to ensure credits are issued.
4. The employer should complete the link on our website: a. www.interstatetaxserviceinc.com
b. Select News
c. Select Report UC Fraud Here
d. Select this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/UCFRAUD
5. Complete any Notice of Applications or Fact Finding Forms online (link to benefits site in #2 above) in the new benefits site and state that the claim is fraudulent.
a. Navigate to upper left and select “Menu”
b. Quick Menu
c. Employer Portfolio
d. Communications Profile
e. Expand Unemployment Files
f. Expand Unemployment Benefit File
g. Select Claimants
h. On the drop down next to File Date: Select All Claims
i. Select Filter
j. Scroll Down to Claimants
k. Select Benefit Year Begin in the header to bring the newest to the top
l. Click on Needs Response
m. Enter today’s date in the top 3 sections
n. Select “Still Working Full-Time”
o. In the Additional Information Box, state that this claim is fraudulent as you have confirmed with the employee that they didn’t file this claim
p. Answer the remainder of the questions erroneously to submit the Notice of Application.
If you cannot locate a Notice of Application with the instructions above, then follow these steps:
1. Select My Dashboard
2. Select Separation Notice Alleging Disqualification
3. Select add a new separation notice and complete.
4. Select “Still Working Full-Time”
5. Enter Fraudulent Claim in the Explain Reason for Separation box.
Each step needs to be completed to ensure the claim is shut down. Many of you are receiving your charges despite having reported the fraud utilizing these steps. Our team here will continue to track these charges to ensure credits will be issued to your account.
Dominic D’Agostino, Vice President
P.O. Box 1490, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
Office – 1-800-382-1395 * Fax – 717-795-8839
Dom@interstatetaxserviceinc.com
