COVID-19 IDENTITY THEFT- What To Do If You Are a Victim

With all of the reporting about scammers filing for unemployment, creating fake web sites mimicking the Employment Security Department web site, and posing as contact tracers, your identity could be at threat to be used to steal from the federal or state governments, or for many other nefarious purposes.

If you do become a victim of identity theft there are definitely things that you need to do to protect yourself. In case your identity has been used in unemployment theft take the following steps,

·         Get organized, keep a file. Have a file folder where you can keep notes about the incident, who you have contacted, reports that you have received, any police reports you have filed, emails, and any other documentation related to the incident.

·         Contact your employer’s human resources department.

·         Contact the Washington State Employment Security Department.

o  Phone- (800) 246-9763

o  Online- https://esd.wa.gov/unemployment/unemployment-benefits-fraud

·         File a police report with your local police department, online or with a non-emergency number.

o  Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office-

§  Online Crime Report- https://www.snohomishcountywa.gov/301/File-an-Online-Crime-Report (Note: the online reporting web page will ask you to call 911 if you are reporting that your identity was stolen)

§  Non-Emergency Number- (425) 407-3999

o  King County Sheriff’s Office-

§  Online Crime Report- https://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/sheriff/on-line-reporting/on-line-reporting.aspx

§  Non-Emergency Number- (206) 296-3311

·         Contact the three major credit bureaus. Tell the bureaus that a fraudulent unemployment claim was made with your identity. Have the case number of the police report ready to give them. Also, have one of the credit bureaus place a fraud alert on your identity.

o  Experian- (888) 397-3742

o  TransUnion- (800) 680-7289

o  Equifax- (888) 766-0008

o  Get free credit reports

§  https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action

§  Phone- (877) 322-8228

o  Consider a credit freeze- https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faqs

·         File a report with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

o  This FTC web site let you report an identity theft and has checklists for recovering from ID theft-

ohttps://www.identitytheft.gov/

·         Consider setting up an IRS account.

o  https://www.irs.gov/payments/view-your-tax-account

For information on protecting your identity, check out the end of this article,

The Seattle Times:

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/what-to-do-if-your-name-is-used-by-unemployment-fraudsters-taking-advantage-of-coronavirus-crisis/