Some $*&%! My identity was stolen to collect the unemployed…

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My name is Lonnie and I am a victim of identity theft.

So check it out. A friend of mine wrote a Facebook post about how someone stole her daughter’s Social Security number and filed for unemployment benefits with Washington State’s Employment Security Division (ESD). Never occurred to me, I decided to go to ESD and try to file an unemployment claim. After entering the information I received the following message:

The Social Security Number (SSN) you entered already exists and is associated with a partially hidden email address: *****@fasternet.co

What??!!??!? I’ve never filed an unemployment claim in my entire life, and certainly I’ve never used an email address on fastnet.co. Who #$%^%! Is this?

I read further and saw the following message:

If you think you may be a victim of unemployment fraud – when criminals illegally apply for unemployment benefits using someone else’s personal and employment information – report it! use the form on Employment Security Department (ESD) website, Then wait to hear from ESD.

I couldn’t believe it. I was the first victim of identity theft in my life. And it wasn’t through the more traditional route of credit card or banking fraud; This was through unemployment benefit fraud.

as i navigate What do you do about it Path, I learned a lot about the prevalence of identity fraud and how exposed I was. Experian, one of three credit reporting companies, published some eye-popping statistics (all as of 2017).

  • 158 million Social Security numbers exposed in data breach

  • 14.2 million credit card numbers exposed

  • $905 million in total fraud losses

  • 13,852 identity theft complaints affecting children and teens

  • 60,000 complaints of mail theft

  • 883,000 confirmed identity theft tax returns

  • 27% of data breaches were medical or healthcare related

Identity theft is real. The bad guys are clever and only care about getting your money. The pain, frustration, and fear they leave behind mean nothing to them. If you think this can’t happen to you then you are living under a rock.

As a result of my experience, I decided to compile everything I’ve done to investigate fraudulent activity and the steps I’ve taken after unemployment benefit fraud was discovered. Hope this would be helpful for you too.

  1. Review your credit report at annurt.com for rogue accounts. You can do this once a year for free. Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security if everything looks good. Things like unemployment benefits don’t appear in the report. You need to dig further.

  2. Check to see if anyone has used your SSN to file an unemployment claim. Go to Washington State ESD Secure Access Washington And follow the instructions to create a Secure Access Washington account. This is how I found out that someone filed unemployment benefits using my name and SSN.

  3. request a social security accaccount statement For claims for any benefits against your SSN.

  4. make a request irs transcrypt for your tax filing history.

  5. Check whether your personal information was included Equifax Breach That happened between May and July of 2017 that exposed the personal information of 140 million Americans. My SSN was one of 140 million.

If fraudulent activity has occurred, take the next steps:

  1. Visit the Federal Trade Commission website Identificationtheft.gov, The website tells you steps to take based on your situation.

  2. File a fraud report with your state. you file in washington Isd,

  3. File a police report with your local police department.

  4. file a irs identity theft Affidavit,

  5. file a Equifax Frude warning, This lets credit card companies know that you have been a victim of identity theft. According to Equifax it conducts additional checks to look for fraudulent activity. They also notify Experian and TransUnion of the theft. I can’t speak to whether or not it’s effective at this point, but I think it doesn’t hurt to do it.

  6. File a health-privacy complaint if the theft was medical-related US Department of Health and Human ServicesIce,

Whether or not you have fraudulent activity, I strongly recommend that you do the following:

  1. turn on acredit freeze on your report with EastFarsi, transunion, And Equifax, A credit freeze restricts access to your credit report. However, if you plan to apply for a credit card, bank account, or mortgage, you need to unfreeze your credit with each bureau, then freeze it again after making inquiries. A minor inconvenience compared to someone opening a credit card in your name using your personal information.

  2. Set up mail or text alerts with your bank and credit card companies for any transaction with a balance greater than zero. Large financial services companies offer alert options that you can customize. You’ll get an alert whenever the card is used, which some people may find annoying, but again I’d rather get a notification email or text than run into someone en masse with my credit card or bank account .

  3. establish two-factor authenticationallure on your accounts. Also referred to as two-step authentication, if someone tries to log into one of your accounts, it’s a form of verification other than a password (i.e. a text message, fingerprint, or email verification). implements authentication.

  4. Use a crosscut shredder for any documents containing personal information. This also includes any credit card or financial service offers you may have received in the mail.

  5. If your state offers it, set up an account that lets you register your SSN and access many state agencies’ online services. in washington state it’s called safe aaccess washington, You may need to do some digging for your state but it’s worth it.

  6. Be careful using public Wi-Fi; consider using a mastery of the artsal private network (vpn) If you access sensitive personal information on a public network.

  7. Make sure you also review the accounts of a loved one, spouse, partner and children.

Identity theft is real, and it could happen to you. The bad guys will never go away, but you can make it more difficult for them by taking some preventive measures to protect you and your loved ones from identity theft.

Note: If you want hyperlinks for all bold references go Here,

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