MA Unemployment Insurance Fraud Assistance

Some employees are reporting that fraudulent claims for Unemployment Insurance have been filed with the state of Massachusetts in their names. This fraud appears to be on the increase.

Here’s what you should do if you are a victim of this serious fraud:

• Report it to the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Insurance: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/report-unemployment-benefits-fraud. Please note that although the site asks for a Claim number and Claim ID, those boxes can be left empty and you can still file the report.
• Contact your local HR office at Harvard: https://hr.harvard.edu/local-human-resources-offices to let them know. The claim will be marked as invalid by Harvard if you are still employed.
• If you have elected Allstate Identity Protection through Harvard (formerly known as InfoArmor), report it to Allstate Identity, the University's vendor for this coverage. 
• Immediately contact the three major credit bureaus to place a fraud alert on your credit records.
  • Equifax
  • Experian
  • Transunion

Victims are additionally encouraged to notify the Internal Revenue Service by filing an Identity Theft Affidavit (IRS Form 14039) through irs.gov or identitytheft.gov.

The victim of identity theft related to fraudulent unemployment insurance claims should also report the fraud to:

• Bank and credit card companies
• Law enforcement
• The FBI encourages victims to report fraudulent or any suspicious activities to the Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.

You may consult identitytheft.gov for help in reporting and recovering from identity theft.

More resources about identify theft are on our EAP (KGA)’s website.