How Do UI Cheaters Get Caught?
Every year, a small portion of claimants commits fraud in order to receive unemployment insurance (UI) benefits to which they are not entitled. The Department of Workforce Services (DWS) vigorously pursues recovery of benefits obtained by fraud. Last year, about 1% of total benefits paid were identified as fraud overpayments, amounting to about $2.5 million dollars. Penalties of $2 million dollars were added to the overpayments as required by state law. Unemployment benefits are paid from the UI Trust Fund, which is supported by an employer payroll tax. Department of Workforce Services refers cases on a regular basis for prosecution in the criminal courts. We have literally dozens of ways to identify claimants who commit UI fraud said Vincent Iturbe, DWS supervisor of Benefit Payment Control. Most of our detection methods rely upon sophisticated automation systems but some still rely upon the efforts of our cadre of skilled UI fraud investigators. Some information sources for potential
