Unemployment Identity Fraud Resources
Colorado Department of Labor and Employment has reported an increasing number of fraudulent unemployment claims across the state. Employees are reporting that they have received pin numbers and Reliacards in the mail but have not filed an unemployment claim. If this has happened to you please read below for instructions on how to proceed.
TIP: Never give out personally identifiable information over the phone. CDLE will never contact you and ask for your social security number (SSN), bank account numbers, your PIN, account passwords, or any other personally identifiable information.
Recommended Steps Employees can take if they believe someone is using your identity to collect unemployment benefits:
- If you received unemployment paperwork but did not file a claim, or otherwise believe you are a victim of identity theft related to unemployment benefits, please complete the online form at Colorado Department of Labor and Employment - Claimant Fraud Report
- File a police report with the local police department. As a victim, you have the right to file this report. It doesn’t mean the police will investigate it, but there will at least be a record of it on file and you can get a copy of the report for your records.
- Contact the D11 Human Resources Department at _HR@d11.org.
- If you received a U.S. Bank Reliacard for Colorado unemployment benefits but did not file a claim, contact U.S. Bank immediately at 1-855-279-1678. Tell them that a fraudulent unemployment claim was filed using your information, and ask them to deactivate the card.
- Contact the three consumer credit bureaus and put a fraud alert on your name and Social Security number (SSN). It may be an automated system, so you may not talk to a live person and you will have to enter your SSN and date of birth.
- Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
- Experian: 1-888-397-3742
- TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289
- It is important to regularly review your credit reports from each of the three credit bureaus. Each will look different and may contain different information. If you discover any incorrect or fraudulent information on your credit report, you should dispute it with the credit bureau directly. Normally, you can receive one free copy of your credit report each year from each credit bureau. Due to increased fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic, each of the three credit bureaus is offering free weekly credit reports via annualcreditreport.com.
- You can also report identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission at identitytheft.gov. The FTC’s website includes valuable resources about how to recover from identity theft and protect your identity.
- The FTC has materials available about how to respond to, limit the damage from, and start recovering from identity theft. You can find useful and reassuring resources at the FTC Consumer Information Identity Theft site and www.identitytheft.gov.
- Employees may want to go to www.irs.gov and get an identity Protection PIN to help prevent the misuse of their Social Security number on fraudulent federal income tax returns.
- Lastly, create a file where you can keep any records relating to this identity theft in one central place, in case you are notified of other fraud or breaches of your personal information.
For more information regarding unemployment fraud prevention, please visit the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment website.