Towns report rash of phony unemployment applications

Supervisors in several towns are reporting that there has been a spate of fraudulent unemployment claims being filed in employees’ names.

Seven Ulster County municipalities have reported a total of 29 people on town and city payrolls have had claims made under their names even though none were out of work.

City of Kingston Comptroller John Tuey on Friday reported that at least 15 instances of fraudulent claims have been found in the past six months, with half coming in the past three weeks.

“It certainly seems to be a well-orchestrated fraud with a high volume,” he said.

While municipal officials say there has not been information provided about investigations into the targeting of local governments, Tuey noted there have been alerts issued.

“We received word of a Secret Service alert out of a national unemployment scam,” he said.

In Rosendale, two forms were filed in the last month under the names of people who have been on the job. Supervisor Jeanne Walsh, who declined to discuss specifics of the data used on forms, said the details being sought for verification indicated there was a significant breach.

“It’s just the fact that they [use personal] information that they shouldn’t have had unless they accessed something,” she said.

Among the bogus claims was the use of Michael Dunham’s name. His claim showed up for verification in each of the three municipalities — Rosendale, Rochester and Marbletown — that he serves as assessor.

“I got a letter of notice around Jan. 20 that said I was going to be receiving a check ... which I never saw,” Dunham said.

Town of Ulster Supervisor James Quigley said there have been three fraudulent claims involving his town’s employee roster, including a Town Board member, with those filings indicating a level of understanding about governmental agencies.

“When you see an application come in with an accurate Social Security number, an accurate earnings history, and an accurate name but an inaccurate address, something smells to high heaven,” Quigley said.

Quigley said the problem has been complicated by employees being unable to reach the state Department of Labor to resolve issues with their personal information.

“They try to call unemployment, and unemployment is inaccessible,” he said. “You can’t get anybody on the phone to talk to.”

Marbletown has been hit with four fraudulent unemployment claims, including one using Supervisor Richard Parete’s name in a Nov. 27, 2020, filing. Parete said the claims have included home addresses that are both real and fraudulent.

“I got an unemployment [claim] filed on me for a house in Uniondale, Long Island,” he said.

Other fraudulent municipal filings have included two claims in Saugerties and one in Esopus.

State Department of Labor spokeswoman Deanna Cohen, in a series of emails, declined to address questions about whether municipalities have been targeted, saying investigations are conducted based on individual filings.

“Identity theft and fraud is something that is perpetuated against a specific individual, not an industry, sector, etc., per se,” she wrote. “This is why you cannot single out a specific industry/ sector.”

Cohen did say that “employees working in health care, education, government and nonprofits have been particularly impacted and should remain especially vigilant.”