The U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Pennsylvania released the below:
PHILADELPHIA – United
States Attorney William M. McSwain and Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh
Shapiro issued a warning to Pennsylvanians today to be alert to fraudsters
using stolen identities to try to obtain Coronavirus Stimulus Funds.
The Pennsylvania
Department of Labor & Industry (DLI) has reported that individuals are
filing claims with stolen identities for Pennsylvania Unemployment Assistance
(PUA). The PUA Program is administered by the DLI as part of the Federal
Stimulus and is intended to benefit workers who have lost their jobs as a
result of the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. Attorney McSwain and Attorney General
Shapiro announced that federal and state law enforcement will aggressively
pursue and prosecute anyone perpetrating this type of fraud.
“Fraud like this
causes great harm to many citizens at a time when they are most vulnerable,”
said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “It is especially intolerable that criminals are
trying to take advantage of an unprecedented public health emergency. My Office
and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office will not tolerate it, and we
will do everything in our collective power to ensure that such fraud scams are
stopped and punished.”
“Scammers are working
overtime during this crisis and trying to take advantage of the nearly 1 in 3
Pennsylvanians who have lost a job. We will not let anyone ripoff the public
and the millions who are out of work,” said Attorney General Shapiro. “Our
offices are using every resource at the state and federal level to figure out
who these criminals are and put a stop to this theft. If you get a check you
didn’t apply for or a deposit you are questioning, please contact our offices.
We need the public’s help to address these crimes.”
According to the DLI,
in one version of the fraud, the thieves use stolen identities of employed
people to file claims for PUA, but direct that the money be sent to the
fraudsters’ own bank accounts. Since discovering this scheme, DLI has taken
steps to route PUA funds to the individuals named in the applications in order
to prevent the thieves from receiving the stolen funds. As a result, victims of
identity theft may only learn that their personal identifying information was
stolen when they improperly receive a Pennsylvania unemployment compensation
check, or a direct deposit of unemployment benefits, for which they never
applied.
If any Pennsylvanian
believes they have been a victim of this type of fraud or identity theft, U.S.
Attorney McSwain and Attorney General Shapiro provided the following guidance:
·
If you receive a paper check for unemployment
benefits in the mail but did not file for such benefits in Pennsylvania,
do not cash the check.
·
Likewise, if you receive a direct deposit for
unemployment benefits but did not file for such benefits in Pennsylvania, do
not use the funds. The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry website
contains detailed instructions for returning the money.
·
In addition, it is very important that victims
report suspected identity theft to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry. A form is available on the Department’s website: DLI.PA.GOV. Identity
theft and fraud can also be reported to the Department using its Fraud Hotline
1-800-692-7469. This information will be shared with law enforcement to
investigate this suspected criminal activity.
The investigations are
being handled by the Coronavirus Fraud Working Group, led by the U.S.
Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and including the
Office of the Pennsylvania Attorney General, the U.S. Department of Labor
Office of Inspector General, the United States Secret Service, the U.S. Postal
Inspection Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Social Security
Administration Office of Inspector General, and over a dozen other federal law
enforcement agencies.
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