Employers should stay alert for suspicious unemployment claims following an unprecedented rise in fraud schemes, state agencies warn.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, most fraud and other improper payments were individual cases involving one or two people. But the pandemic significantly changed that, the agencies warn.
Fraudulent schemes are more organized and sophisticated now, he says. For example, fraudsters are now creating fake companies and filing unemployment claims in the names of laid-off “employees,” i.e. stolen or fictional identities.
The massive large-scale is the result of many factors. To stay vigilant, employers can look for signs of unemployment fraud.