U.S. citizens from all over the country have been victimized by fraudsters impersonating their victims and using the stolen identities to submit fraudulent unemployment insurance claims online. Many victims of identity theft related to unemployment insurance claims do not even know they have been targeted. That doesn’t seem to really be a problem to many until they try to file a claim for their own unemployment insurance benefits and get denied, like Kevin Factor.
On October 5, 2022, mechanical insulator Kevin Factor was laid off. The next day he filed for unemployment with the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission (OESC) only to be told that he had filed a claim in 2020 during the pandemic and received unemployment benefits already. But, in reality, he hadn’t. Factor had never stopped working during the pandemic in 2020. “It’s the fact that during the pandemic that I had to work through all of that and take the risk and be exposed to everything, while somebody else got to claim my benefits that is not theirs,” he said. And now he needs his unemployment benefits and can’t get them.
As Factor stated, “It’s frustrating.” Yes Mr. Factor, it is. If only we got a dollar for every time someone said the government is frustrating to work with! After multiple calls and twice giving his information, Factor is still waiting for his benefits and stressed that time is running out. “We’re getting way behind on bills and things are starting to add up and I could lose my house if this keeps going on like it is,” he added. Hopefully, he doesn’t have to wait for much longer. KFOR News reached out to OESC about the situation, and was told a OESC team member will be giving Factor a call so he can finally file a claim. OESC said their fraud investigators cleared him in November but were unable to reach him afterwards when they called.
Big shout out to KFOR News!
Today’s Fraud of The Day is based on an article “Oklahoma City man undergoes alleged unemployment fraud as OESC continues to battle the activity” published by KFOR News on December 13, 2022
More than two years after the start of the pandemic, Oklahomans are still falling victim to unemployment fraud. An Oklahoma City man said he’s been waiting for weeks for the state to clear his name after a fraudster filed a claim as him. It was Oct. 5th when mechanical insulator Kevin Factor said he was laid off. The next day, he called the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission (OESC) to file for unemployment
