State fights back against fraudulent unemployment insurance claims

MOSES LAKE — Since April 18, the state of Washington has recovered more than $300 million paid in fraudulent unemployment insurance claims, according to a senior official with the Employment Security Department in Moses Lake.

Todd Wurl, speaking Thursday afternoon during a regular online webinar organized by the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce and the Grant County Economic Development Council, said the ESD was working hard on preventing fraud and helping those whose identities have been used to fraudulently claim unemployment benefits.

“This is nationwide, but Washington was hit hard,” Wurl said. “We’re trying to get back every dollar we can.”

However, Wurl also noted “there is probably a lot more fraud out there.”

ESD is holding onto a number of claims in order to verify that they are legitimate, Wurl said, and is asking some claimants for more information.

“So if you receive a questionnaire, don’t ignore it,” he said.

Wurl said the focus on finding and rooting out fraudulent unemployment insurance cases may be the main reason first-time claims for unemployment for the week ending May 23 were down 65 percent to 48,455 from 138,733 the previous week.

“It’s great to see this, it’s an indication we’re getting on top of the fraud situation,” Wurl said.

According to ESD statistics released Thursday, nearly 1.5 million workers in Washington are currently drawing unemployment as a result of layoffs caused by the COVID-19 shutdown of the state beginning in late March.

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