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6-01-2023 12:13am
Reported Cases of Unemployment Benefits Fraud Sharply Rise in Westwood
Darlene Cancell
Editor
Reported cases of unemployment benefits fraud in Westwood has significantly increased, roughly doubling in number in just the first five months of this year, compared to the entirety of 2022, based on the cases Westwood Minute has covered in a weekly article review of incidents reported to Westwood Police.
If you are an avid reader of Westwood Minute's weekly Police Log series, then you have probably already noticed this trend, but Westwood Minute did the analysis on May 31, 2023 that confirms it.
Since Westwood Minute began reporting on local crime in May 2021, it has found 5 cases of unemployment benefits fraud in the eight months from May to December of 2021, 11 cases in the twelve months from January to December 2022, and 24 cases in the five months from January to May 2023.
At the time that Westwood Minute made its first report on unemployment fraud in August 2021, Westwood Police Lieutenant Christopher Sheehy noted that a significant amount of unemployment fraud had been reported in 2020, and had relatively died out before an uptick with a handful of cases. The uptick of cases in 2021, however, appears not to have ended, but the number of cases has continued to grow.
It seems to have really taken off this year. With about 1o cases of unemployment benefits fraud reported in January 2023, the first month of this year alone records a number of incidents that is comparable to the number of incidents recorded for the entire year of 2022.
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The unemployment benefits fraud that is reported to Westwood Police is typically discovered when a Westwood resident, employee of the Town of Westwood, or employee of a Westwood-based company receives notice that unemployment benefits are being paid to the person, even though the person has not applied for them.
Notice of the fraud may come from a number of places. The Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance (MA DUA), which is processing the payments, may contact a person regarding benefits that have been paid in the victim's name. An employer, who has been notified of the payments by MA DUA, may contact a current employee regarding the fact that unemployment benefits are being sought. Notice can also come from the Internal Revenue Service or Massachusetts Department of Revenue regarding taxes on any benefits paid. Additionally, communication from the bank where benefit payments are being deposited can alert a person to the fraud.
When a person learns that someone has fraudulently applied for unemployment benefits in the person's name, it is a case of identity theft. Along with filing a police report, there are a number of things that identity theft victims can do to protect themselves. Westwood Police advise victims to:
- Monitor their credit and bank accounts;
- Request a personal security number (PIN) from the Internal Revenue Service for filing taxes;
- File a fraud report with MA DUA (online filing available);
- Contact a credit reporting agency to put a watch on credit accounts.
Regarding the spike in unemployment benefits fraud reported in Westwood, a few caveats should be stated. Not every incident may be accounted for by Westwood Minute's reporting.
First, not all victims of unemployment benefits fraud may report the incidents to Westwood Police.
Second, clerical error can occur in categorizing the reported incidents. Westwood Minute uses the broad descriptive categories of police response in the public police log as a clue to decide whether to further investigate the lead to develop into a story. If the incident of unemployment benefits fraud has been erroneously characterized as something other than a "larceny/forgery/fraud," it's possible the incident was not picked up by Westwood Minute's review.
Third, due to limited time and resources, Westwood Minute occasionally is unable to follow-up on every lead that could develop into a story.
Given these caveats, it seems likely that there may be even more incidents than those that appear in the above chart.
