PA Labor & Industry offers free credit monitoring after unusual unemployment claim activity

Jan. 25—An investigation into suspicious account activity has prompted the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry to offer free credit-monitoring to Unemployment Compensation claimants.

There's been no confirmed data breach, according to a statement from Labor & Industry, and the offer is described as a proactive step in the event personal information is compromised. Alex Peterson, department press secretary, said a contract is being finalized with a monitoring company and that affected claimants would be contacted directly.

In early January, Labor & Industry said fraud escalated within traditional Unemployment Compensation claims with attempts on intercepting legitimate payments. Earlier in the pandemic, fraudulent activity plagued the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance system.

"While an investigation into the cause of disruptions within accounts is ongoing, we want to protect Pennsylvanians from further harm by proactively providing free credit monitoring. We remain committed to working with law enforcement to prevent criminals from stealing public money and to catch those behind it," Labor & Industry Secretary Jennifer Berrier said in a statement.

The FBI and Homeland Security are investigating "a highly sophisticated, coordinated effort to infiltrate various government systems," according to Labor & Industry. The investigation was disclosed by the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, according to the department, adding that state agencies are cooperating.

A bill amending the Breach of Personal Information Notification Act passed the Senate last week and moved for consideration with the House. It would require that state agencies notify people within 7 days when their personally identifiable information like login data and health insurance policy numbers are breached.

The bill failed in the House last session but was reintroduced last spring after personal information of an estimated 72,000 people was breached through a third-party vendor, Insight Global of Georgia, who was performing contact tracing for the Department of Health.

A federal lawsuit accuses the company, fired by the state in June, of becoming aware of the breach as early as November 2020, and Department of Health learning the same in February 2021, but not alerting affected persons until at least April 29, 2021.

The bill's author, Sen. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie, said he thinks there will be greater support to pass the measure given issues not only with Unemployment Compensation but in other state agencies.

"I have people right in my district that has had this happen to them," Laughlin said of Unemployment Compensation fraud, describing how routing numbers were compromised and altered, sending payments to offshore accounts. "I can assure you with the number of calls my office is handling, I'm certain it's that way across the state. I've got to believe this bill will make it to the House in short order."

Labor & Industry debuted a new Unemployment Compensation benefits system in June. Since then, the department said the new system prevented an estimated $4.7 billion in state and federal funds from being paid out fraudulently.

The system utilizes a virtual identity verification check for new applicants. However, it doesn't use multi-factor authentication, a now-common method in banking and elsewhere of verifying legitimate account activity.

Laughlin criticized Labor & Industry for not having multi-factor authentication already in place. Plans to add the authentication to Unemployment Compensation are underway, according to the department.

Lawrence Snyder III, associate professor of mathematical and digital sciences at Bloomsburg University, said government agencies are targeted because of the personal information collected and stored: dates of birth, Social Security numbers, addresses, banking information for direct deposits.

They're no softer as targets than any other organization that collects personal data, Snyder said. However, he said multi-factor verification is something that probably should have already been in place.

Credit agencies and banks now offer free credit checks at least annually, Snyder said. People should take advantage, he said, and they should be doing so from secure, clean devices at home.

"This is not a new thing and it's probably not going to go away anytime soon. If you want to be protected as a consumer, you can't necessarily rely on companies you're doing business with to do it for you. You've got to be a little proactive on your own," Snyder said.

According to Labor & Industry, signs of potential fraud include the receipt of unrequested unemployment paperwork from the Office of Unemployment Compensation; individuals receiving unemployment benefit payments they didn't apply for; employers receiving notice of an open claim for an employee presently working or an unknown person.

To report fraud, visit www.benefits.uc.pa.gov and click "report fraud" at the bottom of the page; don't log in. Employers should indicate the claim is fraudulent in responding to a Notice of Claim Filed. Visit www.dlisecureweb.pa.gov/FRTS/IdentityTheft.aspx to report fraud specific to the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.