JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Fraud has increased during the pandemic as hackers target any American who once collected unemployment benefits, and Florida is no exception.
“It’s not DEO specific. It’s happening all over the country,” said unemployment expert Vanessa Brito. “Fifty percent of the people I’m dealing with are fraud-related.”
Brito has helped tens of thousands of people navigate Florida’s unemployment system glitches, but fraud is something she doesn’t have a quick fix for.
“Other people are getting their checks,” Brito said. “Other people are getting their money. It takes months to reissue the payments because fraud has to investigate.”
People like Sabrina Hall are getting surprise emails that make their stomachs drop.
“I got an email last night that said my PIN had been changed,” Hall said. “I tried to log in as soon as I saw the emails.”
Her old PIN failed, then a second email came in.
“When I saw the bank account email, I was like ugh,” Hall said.
The email stated Hall’s payment method changed, which often means the hacker rerouted payments to themselves.
Brito said the best practice is to regularly check your CONNECT account to make sure your personal information has not been changed, especially if you’ve gone back to work.
“They know you haven’t been claiming in a while,” Brito said.
Many people who go back to work leave their CONNECT accounts unattended since they no longer are logging in to claim benefits.
“Go ahead and check your payment information, your contact information, and your payment history to make sure no one has been claiming on your behalf,” Brito said.
The Department of Economic Opportunity recently implemented the email system to alert claimants when changes are made to their accounts.
“It is important that claimants are aware of important changes made to their account, such as these, to mitigate instances of Reemployment Assistance fraud or identity theft,” DEO said in a statement. “Claimants should always be sure to check that their account information, such as their contact information and bank account information, is accurate and up-to-date each time they access their account.
DEO said claimants can trust messages from emails listed below.
"The Department will never ask claimants to provide personal identifying information such as their PIN number, banking information, or full Social Security Number in regards to their Reemployment Assistance claim,” DEO said. “Claimants should not provide these types of personal identifying information to imposters pretending to be the Department. Claimants should also make sure to verify any suspicious emails or phone calls to make sure they are official correspondences and to mitigate instances of Reemployment Assistance fraud or identity theft.”