Unemployment fraud on the rise as cases swamp state

MOSES LAKE — As if life under lockdown weren’t difficult enough, there are now reports of fraudulent unemployment claims being filed using the names and information of people who are still working full-time.

“We’ve received information that several city employees filed unemployment insurance claims,” said Moses Lake Police Chief Kevin Fuhr. “Employees from five city departments had reportedly filed claims, and that sparked an investigation.”

Fuhr said the first batch of fraudulent claims were made last week, but noted the city also received notice of five more claims made in the names of currently employed city workers.

“It’s running rampant right now,” he said.

Fuhr said all of the employees are currently working and none had actually filed any claims. He also said the city has reported the problem to the state Employment Security Department’s (ESD) fraud office.

“We are seeing an increased amount of fraud. We do not have numbers to release at this point,” wrote ESD spokesperson Nick Demerice in an email to the Columbia Basin Herald. “This sort of impostor fraud involves someone using personal information of someone in order to apply for benefits in their name.”

In every case at Moses Lake City Hall, Fuhr said whoever was filing the fraudulent claims had the person’s name, address, date of birth and Social Security number. He speculated that this may be the result of previous data thefts or the result of a “new breach nobody knows about.”

In the last two months, claims for unemployment benefits have skyrocketed, overwhelming a stressed system and creating a backlog of nearly 60,000 unemployment claims, according to ESD Commissioner Suzi LeVine in a video message released last Thursday.

Because of the volume, LeVine said the department has struggled to deal with that backlog of pending applications.

“Our top priority is to get money into the pockets of everyone eligible,” LeVine said.

However, Fuhr said the shortage of people processing claims and the desire to process them quickly mean many people who file fraudulent claims “will get the money before the state looks at it; they will get the money and be gone.”

Stephen McFadden, development director for Adams County and a member of the Big Bend Community College Board of Trustees, said the college contacted him not long ago saying someone had used his information to claim unemployment for six weeks from mid-February to late March.

“It was quite the surprise,” McFadden said. “It was a tad unnerving knowing someone out there is cashing checks using my identity.”

McFadden said he spent a frustrating afternoon last Friday trying to get through the ESD’s phone system to talk to a fraud investigator. Once through, he said the investigator was “extraordinary and very helpful” in getting his problem solved.

However, he noted he had to be persistent, go through several phone numbers, struggle with several lost connections and wait nearly 90 minutes to talk to someone.

“They are swamped,” he said.

McFadden noted that the claims stopped right before the enhanced COVID-19 unemployment benefits kicked in — the additional $600 per week those laid off due to COVID-19 are eligible to receive through the end of July — so he’s not sure what happened to him was related to the pandemic.

McFadden said he’s put his credit on lockdown with his bank and all three credit reporting agencies, something Fuhr recommended anyone who has been a victim of any kind of fraud or identity theft should do.

“People should check their credit score and make sure nothing is on their credit scores that shouldn’t be there,” the MLPD chief said.

Fuhr was also philosophical about the ingenuity of some folks who commit crimes.

“If these criminals take the time to do legitimate business, they’d probably be pretty successful,” he said.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.