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MCC Daily Tribune

Unemployment Insurance Fraud Alert and Resources

Multiple federal and state agencies are reporting an increase in fraudulent unemployment claims exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically of public sector employees.  Within the State University of New York (SUNY) system, the New York State Department of Labor (DOL) is investigating several cases where unemployment insurance (UI) claims have been fraudulently submitted by unknown individuals posing as college employees.

To address this issue, MCC Human Resources has been reaching out to MCC employees when our office receives a notice that you have filed an application for unemployment insurance benefits. 

  • If you filed the claim, there is no further action for you to take.
  • If you did not file the claim, we ask you to notify HR by responding to our outreach email.  MCC HR will notify the DOL that the claim is fraudulent.

Individual employees should take the following steps to report the fraud and protect their personal information:

  1. Immediately report this issue to the DOL at on.ny.gov/uifraud. It is strongly recommended that you report the fraud online so that the fraud information is received without delay. You may also report by telephone: 1-888-598-2077.
  2. Report your identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission at identitytheft.gov.  This website contains comprehensive guidance on what to do to protect yourself. Some basic steps highlighted by the FTC include: 
  • Place a free fraud alert on your account with the three credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax), or consider a credit freeze
  • Receive free credit reports from annualcreditreport.com to see if anyone has attempted to open credit cards or apply for loans in your name
  • File a fraud report with your local police department. The police report will provide proof in case your stolen identity is used for other fraudulent financial purposes. The local police will hand the case over to the FBI after taking your report.
  • Consider strengthening passwords, logins and pins for online financial accounts, and setting up multi-factor authentication if you have not already.

How can I avoid becoming a victim of unemployment insurance fraud?

In order to prevent someone else from claiming your benefits online for New York State or for the Federal Government Social Security Administration, set your account up yourself as soon as possible. (If you can, do so for all your family members, even children.)

  • Create a ny.gov ID at my.ny.gov  
  • Create a mySocialSecurity account at ssa.gov
  • Once you set them up, check these accounts to help you keep track of your records and identify any suspicious activity
  • If you find you cannot set up your NY.gov ID because someone already has, call the unemployment insurance fraud hotline at (866) 435-1499 to have the account shut down so it cannot be used to file weekly unemployment claims or to set up direct deposit to their bank account. The DOL can also ask the Office of Special Investigation Bank Fraud unit to put a “do not pay” on your account with the bank that issues NYS unemployment.
  • You want to catch this before any payments are made, because you will receive a 1099-G and owe taxes on payments that are issued under your identity.

In addition, see the attached document for FTC guidance to address identity theft.

If you have follow-up questions, please email MCC HR: HR@monroecc.edu.

Attached Files:
FTC guidance on Identity Theft.pdf

Kristin Lowe
Human Resources
03/02/2021