Scammers steal woman’s identity to apply for unemployment and COVID-19 assistance

BOSTON — As millions of Americans apply for unemployment and pandemic aid, it’s easier to fall victim to identity theft, especially if you’re not filing for assistance.

“To me what’s scary and what’s a little concerning is there’s no clear way to protect myself in the future,” said Karen Castillo, who lives in Walpole.

Castillo says someone stole her identity, using her maiden name and her parents’ address, to file for unemployment and COVID-19 assistance.

Her parents received the claim letter in the mail.

“It’s lucky to me that it was my parents, but let’s say they used any other previous address, I would have never had found out,” said Castillo.

Protect Now CEO Robert Siciliano says it’s a scam happening across the country right now because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“There’s so much chaos and so much overwhelm with all these government agencies that are dispersing funds, that there’s not a whole lot of oversight into the account administration,” said Siciliano, an expert in cybersecurity and identity protection. “Which means that all the employees are completely overwhelmed and they’re just agreeing with the majority of claims coming across their desk because there are millions of them.”

That’s why he says it’s easier for thieves to take advantage and pose as someone else to file these claims.

The issue is, if you don’t catch this the IRS could come after you.

“So the problem with somebody applying for unemployment under your name is that by the end of the year, you may actually owe taxes regarding the money that was taken out of your unemployment insurance,” said Siciliano.

Siciliano says the best way to protect yourself is to create an account on the Social Security Administration website as well as with the Department of Unemployment, even if you’ve never filed before.

“If you’ve never filed unemployment insurance in Massachusetts, this will be a new process. “If you have, they’ll recognize you pretty quickly, but you want to get control of that now before somebody else does,” said Siciliano.

Castillo is in the process of doing that now, but she says it hasn’t been easy.

“It doesn’t necessarily give you everything, but it’s one more tool, one more step to look at things that might not look right,” said Castillo.

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