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To date, the identities of 380 people working for Northwell Health, Nassau County Community College, Hofstra University, the Villages of Valley Stream, East Williston, and Herricks, several Nassau County school districts and other smaller organizations have been stolen by the fraud rings, which submitted false claims to unemployment, said Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas.
The scheme, which began in early March, involves claims for hundreds of thousands of dollars in unemployment benefits, Singas said.
The claims can result in weekly unemployment benefits payments ranging from $104 to $504, the DA's Office said.
“Criminals are seizing on a surge in job losses to steal unemployment benefits from employees working for Nassau County organizations and companies,” Singas said. “Not only are they stealing identities, but they’re trying to steal money earmarked for people who’ve lost their main source of income."
The pattern of fraudulent claims is the work of one or more organized rings, which tend to target employees at the executive, managerial, or professional level of their respective organizations because those people tend to earn more money and would, therefore, receive more unemployment benefits, Singas said.
Many victims didn't know they had been affected until they received a letter from the NYS Department of Labor indicating that “their claim” for unemployment benefits had been approved.
Some victims subsequently received a debit card loaded with unemployment benefit funds. In some cases, debit cards were sent in the names of the victims to addresses controlled by fraudsters.
The NCDA asks anyone who thinks they may have been a victim of this pandemic unemployment benefit scheme to contact the Financial Crimes Bureau at 516-571-2149.
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