SEATTLE — A group of international fraudsters appears to have mounted an immense, sophisticated attack on U.S. unemployment systems, creating a network that has already siphoned millions of dollars in payments that were intended to avert an economic collapse, according to federal authorities.

The attackers have used detailed information about U.S. citizens, such as social security numbers that may have been obtained from cyber hacks of years past, to file claims on behalf of people who have not been laid off, officials said. The attack has exploited state unemployment systems at a time when they are straining to process a crush of claims from an employment crisis unmatched since the Great Depression.

The Secret Service memo said Washington State had emerged as the primary target thus far, but there was also evidence of attacks in Florida, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and Wyoming. The agency warned that every state was vulnerable and could be targeted, noting that the attackers appeared to have extensive records of personally identifiable information, or P.I.I.

I'd like to lock my credit with the three credit bureaus..

I've been informed that an unemployment claim has been made in my name by my employer(along with half a dozen others)... I'm not sure when exactly this happened, but the message my manager texted me that she had received from HR about getting hit with these claims(in general) is dated 5/12... soo I dunno WTF?

I inquired with the state system, sent a fraud alert in to close the current thieving claim...  I had gotten advice from a friend only a couple days ago to register an account with our state's unemployment office to get ahead of fraud and own my identity with them(apparently you can do this without filing for any moneys)... when I tried to do so today they reported that my SS# had already been used to open a claim .. you're supposed to call to get things straight(open on Saturday, can you believe it?), but of course they're busy and hang up after busy recording... dunno if I'll ever get through that bureaucratic nightmare.

I dunno what that means or where this fraud bullshit goes from here, if it's contained in the employment system or what, but I'd like to be proactive.

I checked my bank accounts and nothing's fishy there... I got credit reports from all three outfits and everything's in line there..

next steps?... any advice?



this state is a fucking joke