The Idaho Department of Labor partnered with ID.me to help with unemployment insurance claimant identity verification and with fraud prevention. The department needs to verify claimant information to ensure others are not filing claims with the individual’s name or other personal data.
Scammers filed thousands of unemployment claims by using false or stolen identities across the United States. On estimate, these scammers siphoned off $36 billion in fraudulent unemployment payments since the start of the pandemic. Claimants who are sent an email and letter from the department about identity verification must verify their identity through the ID.me application (the application will also be available in Spanish). Claimants will have 14 days to verify their identity. Claimants will have the option to either answer questions about credit history or upload a photo of their government ID, as well as verify their phone or mobile phone number. Claimants can also verify their identity by speaking with an ID.me representative on a video call, if the other options do not work. For more information, please visit the department’s site at idahoatwork.com.
