Identity thieves try to make 20,000 fake SC unemployment accounts with stolen info
South Carolina’s unemployment agency is “actively waging war” against unemployment insurance fraud, following an extensive attempt to create fake accounts.
The South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce, which gives out the state’s unemployment checks, reported that last week identity thieves used stolen Social Security numbers to try to make 20,000 accounts. None of the thousands of attempts were successful.
At least 975 unemployed people’s accounts were locked down after Social Security numbers connected to those account were used again to try to register a new account, the department said.
No one’s personal information was stolen from the department’s database and no money was lost, according to the agency. The identity thieves obtained the Social Security numbers prior to the attempted unemployment fraud and from outside of the unemployment department.
“The agency is vigilant about fraud prevention. It is happening on a daily basis, and we have to continue to be creative in our prevention just as the criminals are creative in their attempts,” said department Director Dan Ellzey. “However, our best defense against bad actors is working with our claimants to identify fraudulent attempts.”
The 975 people have been informed that their personal information was used by someone else, the department said.
If found guilty of fraud, a person can go to prison for 10 years and be fined up to $50,000.
In 2012, hackers broke into the state Revenue Department computers and stole person information and social security numbers of 3.8 million South Carolina residents and pilfered information from 700,000 businesses.
People can report identity theft to the employment and workforce department on their website. The department also has a page for reporting unemployment fraud.
