The first question you may get from your employees who are fraud victims is “How did they get my information?” and/or “What information do they have on me?”
In order to file an unemployment claim, a fraudster needs to, at the very least, have a person’s name and full Social Security Number. Depending on the state, additional information such as a date of birth or Driver’s License number may also be needed. Stolen Personal Identifiable Information (PII) can be bought online, or by taking advantage of prior data breaches, intrusions, email phishing or cold calling using an impersonation scheme, fraudsters have many ways to get the pieces of information they need. This type of information is widely available for sale on the dark web.
To put your employees mind at ease, you may want to check with your internal IT department as well as any vendors you use for your HRIS and payroll functions to ensure that their systems are secure. Thomas & Company has done the same exercise and our data has not been compromised.
Identity Theft Protection programs may be able to identify the source of the stolen identity. If you do not offer an Identity Theft Protection program or your plan does not offer assistance in uncovering the source of the identity theft, we have partnered with Aura Identity Guard, a leader in identity theft protection, to provide your employees with protection for a low monthly rate. Aura is unique in that your employee will be assigned a dedicated Case Manager as a single point of contact to assist with:
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- Contacting the state workforce agency to help resolve the UI Fraud claim.
- Determining if they have been a victim of other identity theft and help them resolve it.
- Providing ongoing protection from fraud to help achieve personal and financial goals.
For more information about Aura Identity Guard, please visit (identityguard.com/thomasco).