Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita’s office announced it has recovered more than $3.3 million in unemployment benefits that were paid out to fraudulent actors.
Scammers used identity information collected from the “dark web” to receive unemployment benefits from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, according to a statement from the attorney general’s office. Accounts with Green Dot Bank, an online banking company, held about $3.15 million.
More:This is what to do if you fall victim to an unemployment scam
“With the help and dedication of the Department of Workforce Development, we were able to identify and recover large-scale unemployment benefits-related fraud,” said John Millikan, a deputy attorney general with Rokita’s office who oversaw the initiative. “I am grateful for the good-faith negotiations from Green Dot Bank and other financial institutions that brought about this great result for Hoosier taxpayers.”
Fraudulent unemployment crimes “soared” during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Rokita’s office, as the state’s workforce agency “faced pressure to push payments out quickly to newly jobless individuals.”
Hoosiers who believe they have been the target of identity theft should file a complaint with the attorney general’s office. They can also report unemployment fraud to the state’s workforce agency, and the Indiana State Police by filling out this form and emailing it to uifraud@isp.IN.gov.
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