It’s a sad state of affairs in our country when scammers are preying on each state’s unemployment funds. We first posted info on this big problem a few months ago at: https://schwartzaccountants.com/2020/06/ma-is-now-being-inundated-with-fraudulent-unemployment-claims/. Beyond notifying your state unemployment department immediately upon learning that a fraudulent unemployment claim was filed under your name, here are some additional prudent steps to take:
- Start by changing the passwords for your various bank and credit cards accounts
- Next, put a credit freeze on through the 3 credit agencies listed below. This will prevent new accounts from being opened in your name. Please note that freezing your credit can be a bit of an annoyance later. For instance, should YOU wish to open a valid account, you will likely need to go online and pause each credit freeze.
- And consider an identity theft protection subscription like Lifelock (lifelock.com). There are several programs that monitor your credit. In fact, AAA members get free credit monitoring as part of their membership.