Ohioans receive letters offering free identity theft protection services

COLUMBUS — A company that identifies itself as an Ohio contractor recently sent out letters to Ohioans who were victims of unemployment identity theft, offering a year of free identity theft protection services, paid for by the state.

It’s unknown how many people received the most recent round of letters, and if in fact they are legitimate. Cleveland.com/the Plain Dealer reached out to the department multiple times Thursday.

Beginning in April 2020, at the start of the pandemic, fraudsters have tried to claim unemployment benefits on behalf of Ohioans. They continue to try to break into Ohioans’ accounts, including as recently as this spring.

On Jan. 25, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services announced that it was using an existing contract with IDX, which it described as a “nationally recognized provider of credit monitoring services,” to offer services to 410,000 Ohioans who reported being a victim of identity theft.

OD JFS at the time estimated the cost would be $588,000 to $748,000, depending on how many people enroll. The cost includes the company launching and maintaining the service, notifying individuals of their eligibility, maintaining an enrollment website and providing contact center support.

Last October, an audit showed that OD JFS paid out more than $3.8 billion by mistake or because of fraud between April 2020 and the end of last June, with about $477 million attributed to fraud.

By the end of January, the fraud amount increased to $496 million. At the time, the state had paid out about $24 billion in unemployment to 2.4 million claimants.

Unemployment benefits fraud has been so widespread that Gov. Mike Dewine, First Lady Fran Dewine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted each had claims falsely filed in their names.