These changes are in advance of legislation signed into law in December 2017 that will further combat imposter claims. New changes to prevent imposter claims include:

• Hiring a forensic accountant from the private sector, Tim Kolar, to head up the UIA’s new Division of Integrity. This new division will include the UIA’s Fraud Unit and Collections Unit.
• Reordering process workflows so that two identity crossmatches will run the night that a claim is filed. One of the crossmatches is with the Social Security Administration. The second is for data analytics, identifying patterns with claims such as suspicious IP addresses or multiple accounts with the same bank number.
• If a claim is flagged as suspicious by these crossmatches, two new things will happen:
  • A new Request for Information form will be sent to the claimant, demanding that they provide I-9 identity documentation in-person or by mail or fax. If the claimant fails to respond within 2 weeks, they will be disqualified for Failure to Report. /li>
  • Affected employers will be notified with a new paragraph in the Monetary Determination noting that the claim is flagged as suspicious.
• If an employer or affected individual is the first to notify the UIA of the imposter claim, a new Statement of Identity Theft form is intended to make it easier to clear the affected individual’s name:
  • The Statement of Identity Theft may be submitted in-person, by mail or fax.
  • If submitted in-person, PRO Examiners have been trained and are now authorized to resolve identity verifications, rather than the previous process of referral to a fraud investigator
• Fraud investigators should now be freed up to focus their attention on the most suspicious claims, particularly those where payment has been made.

MMA expects to meet with UIA leadership later this month to continue our efforts to clampdown on imposter fraud.

Unemployment Insurance Fact Sheets (from the UIA):

• Protecting Your Business and Employees from Identity Theft
• Protecting Unemployment Benefits from Identity Theft

Please let us know if you have comments or questions about this or any other matter.

This article was originally published in the 1/16/18 issue of MMA’s MFG Voice.

Contact Delaney McKinley

Senior Director of Government Affairs and Membership
Call 517-487-8530
E-mail mckinley@mimfg.org