Free Credit Monitoring For OH Unemployment Scam Victims

OHIO — More than 400,000 Ohioans have reported being victims of unemployment-related identity theft since the start of the pandemic, the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services (ODJFS) reported, and now they could qualify for free credit monitoring.

“The unprecedented amount of claims filed and benefits distributed as a result of the pandemic unfortunately resulted in equally unprecedented fraud across the nation,” said ODJFS Director Matt Damschroder. “While we have no evidence any ODJFS system was breached, we are in a unique position to help those who were victimized by providing them with credit-monitoring tools.”

From the start of the pandemic, in March 2020, to now, the department has handled more than 2.4 million unemployment claims and paid out $24 billion. Officials identified $496 million, of that $24 billion, as fraudulent overpayments.

In August 2021, state Rep. Matt Crossman accused the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services of ignoring widespread hacking of unemployment systems. The department called the claims "inaccurate" and vowed to "stay vigilant" with regards to cyber security.

The department does believe scammers managed to impersonate Ohioans to steal unemployment benefits. One of the common schemes was to use personal information stolen in previous data breaches and use that data to file claims.

To help those who may have been victimized, the department is offering one year of free credit monitoring to the 410,000 Ohioans who may have been ripped off. IDX will monitor all participants' credit scores and identity theft monitoring, restoration, and insurance.

The department estimates the cost for offering credit monitoring through the program to be between $588,000 to $748,000. Final costs will be determined by how many people enroll.

Anyone who thinks they were victimized by an unemployment scam, but didn't report it, can do so at unemployment.ohio.gov or by calling 833-658-0394.