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New York state has partnered with a third-party identification service to prevent fraudulent unemployment claims.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the state’s partnership with ID.me on Feb. 25 after the state’s Department of Labor identified over 500,000 fraudulent unemployment claims that have occurred since the start of the pandemic, some of which have targeted Syracuse University employees. 

Here is what you need to know about ID.me and the state’s response to these fraudulent claims:

Causes for fraudulent claims

Identity theft has been an issue for many years nationwide, said Lee McKnight, an associate professor in SU’s School of Information Studies. 

As unemployment rates rise amid the pandemic, cyber security criminals have opted to take previously stolen personal information and harvest it to file these claims, McKnight said. Since people tend not to move very often, names and addresses from previous identity thefts or data breaches are frequently accurate, he said. 

“The criminals have made a business of harvesting previously harvested personal information from prior identity theft cases and started filing claims in multiple states for insurance benefits,” he said. “That’s great for the criminals — not so great for the victims.”

Since qualifications for unemployment insurances have loosened amid the pandemic, some criminals have been able to get away with filing false claims, he said. 

How ID.me works

The state has taken steps in the right direction to prevent fraudulent claims by partnering with ID.me, McKnight said. The company has been around for many years and has already been certified by the proper government agencies, he said. 

“This is not just some fly-by-night operator,” he said. 

ID.me works with businesses and government agencies across several states. The platform uses multi-factor authentication, which is one of many ways to prevent these fraudulent claims from being filed in the first place, McKnight said. The state’s unemployment office did not previously require multi-factor authentication, such as a text or phone call, to verify identity.

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“If you’re not doing multi-factor authentication and you’re giving out money, you’re going to get ripped off,” he said. 

The platform has a relatively streamlined process, McKnight said. While users may have to provide documentation that they have already provided to the state, the process is not “overly burdensome,” he said. 

Already exposed data

While ID.me will help prevent future fraudulent claims, the platform can’t help individuals whose data has already been stolen, McKnight said.

“There has been a business in selling these personally identifiable records,” he said. 

Users should be careful and read privacy notices before giving their data to any company, including ID.me, McKnight said. It’s important for users to know what companies are doing with their data to avoid breaches and invasions of privacy. 

Published on March 16, 2021 at 9:37 pm

Contact Mira: mlberenb@syr.edu