The Attorney General’s Office is warning Arizonans about unemployment insurance fraud claims suspected of being related to possible identity theft.
According to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), within the past few weeks, several criminal complaints have been received from Arizonans who received a letter from the Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES) about their unemployment benefits, even though they did not apply for them. In some cases, the individuals were also mailed a debit card with unemployment benefits they did not sign up for.
AGO investigators believe fraudsters are applying for the DES benefits using other people’s personal identifying information. It is possible that scammers are using personal information from victims obtained from phishing scams or previous unrelated data breaches.
If you receive a letter or debit card in the mail for unemployment benefits and you did not file for unemployment, the AGO advises you to immediately:
Destroy the debit card you received after you report the fraud to Arizona Department of Economic Security.
File a criminal complaint with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office online or by calling (602) 542-8888 or (520) 628-6504.
File a complaint with the Arizona Department of Economic Security.
Alert your employer and Human Resources Department and ask them to flag any notice that comes from DES about a claim filed under your name.
File a complaint with the FTC at IdentityTheft.gov. The FTC can also help with a one-year fraud alert on your credit, get free credit reports, and close fraudulent accounts in your name.