1-28-21

Email Established for Reporting Identify Theft

The Nebraska Department of Labor is performing additional fraud checks to prevent Unemployment Insurance tax statements from being sent to identity theft victims.  The IRS has granted the Department’s request to delay issuing 1099-G forms for up to 30 days while these checks are performed.  As a result, some claimants will receive their 1099-G forms in February. The IRS will not begin processing individual tax returns until February 12.

“Unemployment fraud has been prevalent nationwide during the pandemic,” said Commissioner of Labor John H. Albin.  “This includes fraudsters claiming benefits using stolen identities. The Department is exhausting every possible avenue to reduce the impact of fraud on innocent Nebraskan’s whose identity was stolen.”

Any individual who receives a 1099-G from NDOL, but did not file an unemployment claim, should report suspected fraud by emailing NDOL.1099fraud@nebraska.gov and filing a police report.

NDOL has hired additional staff for fraud prevention and detection, including income and identity verification.  A new federal requirement for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) is to verify self-employment and identity of claimants.  Even if a claim was previously approved, each claimant will be asked to provide additional information.

Resources for reporting identity theft and fraud:

Internal Revenue Service: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/taxpayer-guide-to-identity-theft

Federal Trade Commission: https://www.identitytheft.gov

US Department of Justice: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form

 

NDOL news releases are available online at dol.nebraska.gov