16 Unemployment Fraud Claims In La Grange

Hinsdale IL

13 November, 2020

4:02 PM

Description

LA GRANGE, IL — In the last week, 16 La Grange residents have filed identity theft reports involving unemployment compensation, according to La Grange police. The residents told police that suspects filed unemployment claims using their information. In the same week, Elmhurst and Hinsdale reported 26 and 27 unemployment fraud claims, respectively. Such fraud is taking place in Illinois and across the country. Kristin Richards, acting director of the Illinois Department of Employment Security, said most of the fraud claims are associated with the federally funded Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, according to a story by Springfield TV station WICS. The suspects, she told the station, will somehow get a person's Social Security number and file claims under the victim's name. "We estimate that about 40 percent of those benefits that were applied for in the state of Illinois are fraudulent," Richards told.