“DC Unemployment Insurance Fraud”

photo by Pablo Raw

“Dear PoPville,

I recently received a Monetary Determination from DC’s Office of Unemployment Compensation that I believe may be fraudulent. I have not filed an unemployment claim with the District of Columbia. I found this to be a crazy coincidence given today’s DCist article.

The letter was mailed to my old DC address and my old landlord forwarded the letter to my new address (I’m now a resident of Virginia).

Out of curiosity, I navigated to the DC Unemployment Insurance Portal website, clicked on “Account Sign In” and “Forgot Your Password”. When I typed in my Social Security Number, it said “Password has been sent to [email protected]”, which is NOT my email address.

I promptly emailed the DC DOES Fraud Department and I’ll likely file a police report. Aside from contacting my employer and freezing my credit, what other steps should I take? Does the DOES portal allow folks to configure direct deposit for collecting monthly unemployment disbursements?

Is it a bad idea to consider emailing the potential fraudster directly? I’m hoping to spook them to the point where they cease and desist, as any money they collect will likely be attributed to my name as taxable income.“