Erie County’s top prosecutor is warning people to watch out for unemployment fraud, after becoming a victim himself.

What You Need To Know

  • More than 425,000 fraudulent unemployment benefit claims were filed in the state since March 2020
  • Erie County's DA says he was the victim of someone attempting to file a fraudulent unemployment claim using his personal information
  • He says take immediate action if this happens to you
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"This is a major problem,” said Erie County District Attorney John Flynn.

Since March 2020 when the pandemic started, the New York State Department of Labor has identified more than 425,000 fraudulent unemployment benefit claims. 

"We are seeing over the course of the pandemic here a dramatic increase in these types of fraudulent claims," he said.

The Erie County DA would know. He tells Spectrum News on Monday he received a letter from the Department of Labor providing him with instructions on how to validate his unemployment claim. This raised a red flag for him. That's because he says he didn't file one and has been working throughout the pandemic.  

"I brought the letter in here on Tuesday morning. I gave it to my white collar criminal investigators and they called the Department of Labor up and they confirmed that someone had filed a fraudulent unemployment insurance claim using my name," Flynn said. 

According to Flynn, the letter also had his home address and the last four digits of his social security number. The DA took immediate action by contacting his employer, the state labor department, the Federal Trade Commission, and credit reporting agencies. Ultimately the person attempting to claim the benefits was unsuccessful.

"I would hope that the individual who tried to do this against me wasn't stupid enough to know who I am. The point is that everyone is susceptible to being a victim to these types of scams," the DA said.

Flynn advises if you're ever in this situation, do what he did:

Flynn says since the claims are filed online it's very difficult to identify and prosecute the people behind them.

"As the pandemic drags on, it's not only unemployment insurance frauds, it's stimulus check fraud as well, OK. It's the money that went out for small business loans and for grants to help small businesses. People are getting scammed on those as well," he said.

Flynn says if the scammer in his case is caught, he or she could potentially face an attempted grand larceny charge. He tells Spectrum News he'd probably transfer the case so a different DA can take it on.