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STORY UPDATED AT 1:42 P.M. MONDAY, FEB. 22
Residents of Oswego, Yorkville and Plano combined filed more than 650 reports of identity theft with local police involving fraudulent state of Illinois unemployment claims between Dec. 1 and Jan. 31.
Over the two-month period, a total of 347 fraudulent unemployment claims reports were filed with Oswego police, 159 filed with Yorkville police, 129 filed with Montgomery police and 17 filed with Plano police.
Yorkville Deputy Chief of Police Behr Pfizenmaier said an additional 36 cases were reported to the department over the two months but the victims declined to file a report.
Montgomery Police Commander Liz Palko said in a Feb. 22 email that the department is no longer taking calls related to unemployment fraud, but is directing victims to contact the Illinois Department of Employment Security directly.
IDES Information Strategy Director Rebecca Cisco said that fraudulent unemployment case filings aren’t just increasing in Kendall County, they’re increasing across Illinois.
“January 2020 through February (2021) ... the most recent number is 1.1 million fraudulent claims,” Cisco said. “It’s not surprising that Kendall County, along with every other county in the state, and quite frankly, every state in the country is seeing cases of identity theft by way of unemployment fraud.”
“In terms of motivations or how it’s being operated, we don’t have that information, we’re not law enforcement,” she added.
For the past six months or so, Cisco continued, IDES has been encouraging Illinois residents who receive notification of a false claim of unemployment filed in their name to report the incidents or cases as identity theft and fraud to IDES so that the claim can be shut down.
The department is working with law enforcement agencies statewide, Cisco said, to give them as much information as they need to continue investigating false claims.
The Illinois Attorney General’s Office also recently created a task force dedicated to combating false claims of unemployment, she said, and other precautions against fraud have been in place since before the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in early 2020.
“We’re always looking for ways to enhance what we have in place,” she said. “We’ve been very cognizant and very diligent in not speaking publicly on what those measures look like, because fraudsters are also watching the news, reading about what Illinois is doing and what other states have done. We don’t want to give them an opportunity to adapt or evolve their fraud scheme,” she said.
When it comes to a victim profile, Cisco said that “anybody is susceptible to being a victim.”
“I think people don’t really understand the extent to which personally identifying information, things like Social Security numbers, driver’s licenses, etc. ... I don’t think people understand the availability and the breadth of that information,” Cisco said.
She cited large corporate data breaches that have occurred in recent years, including those through Equifax and Target, adding that those incidents make personal information and data available.
“Information is not as secure as I think we want to believe,” she said, encouraging anybody with a Social Security number to enhance their cybersecurity and protect their information.
“As fun as it is to update people on social media platforms, that is also accessible to bad actors and fraudsters. It’s the matter of doing your own due diligence to make sure you’re not unwittingly providing information to people who would use it in an illegal or fraudulent way, but also making sure you’re putting fraud alerts on your credit reports and making sure you’re doing what you can to protect yourself,” Cisco said.
Once a resident discovers a false claim has been filed in their name, Cisco said the first thing that needs to be done is to file a report with IDES, a process that can be done online. Victims also can reach IDES by phone to file a report.
“I would encourage people to understand and practice patience with us,” Cisco said. “It may take some time for us to get back to you, but we will. The claim will be shut down.”
Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis said that the county has not had to handle any cases of unemployment fraud as those cases are being handled by the state.
In late 2020, Weis issued a statement, advising county residents on how to report and handle cases of unemployment fraud.
He advised residents that if they see something that looks unusual or receive information suggesting they or an employee has filed for unemployment insurance when there has been no change to employment status, they should promptly report that information and take all necessary steps to protect identities and credit histories.