PUA fraud remains ‘a national problem,’ L&I secretary says
For the second week in a row, unemployment benefits fraud dominated the state Labor & Industry news conference.
“It’s not a Labor & Industry problem, it’s not a Pennsylvania problem, it’s a national problem, and we’re working with vendors to get this straightened out,” L&I secretary Jerry Oleksiak said Monday afternoon.
The department received a surge in suspicious claims for benefits from the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program on Sept. 17 and 18. The claims came from inside and outside Pennsylvania, and totaled 20,000 on that second day – four times the daily amount L&I usually receives. The figures have dropped off in the Keystone State, but concerns abound inside and outside its borders.
“There’s been a lot of fraud with PUA and identity theft,” said Susan Dickinson, the department’s unemployment compensation benefits policy director. She and Oleksiak advised Pennsylvanians who believe they have been victimized or are aware of a fraudulent act to report it on the department website, uc.pa.gov/fraud.
Labor & Industry maintains that its systems and data have not been compromised, that personal information has been accessed elsewhere.
Claimants may still file for PUA benefits, although Oleksiak reiterated that payments will be delayed until appropriate fraud protections can be implemented. He did not have an estimated time frame for when disbursement of those benefits would resume.
The secretary said individuals also can apply for funds from the Lost Wages Assistance program, which was established in early August through an executive order of President Donald Trump. LWA provides a $300 weekly benefit to workers in participating states who are fully or partly unemployed because of the pandemic.
That program ended the week of Sept. 5, and provides eligible claimants in Pennsylvania up to six weeks of pay, retroactive to the week of Aug. 1. Oleksiak said the state has paid about $1.6 billion of the $2.8 billion in Federal Emergency Management Agency funding it received through the program. He again urged eligible claimants to apply quickly.
Oleksiak said the state’s trust fund, a backbone for UC payments, had dwindled to $42.1 million as of late last week. He said his department has begun the process to acquire federal loans to bolster the fund.
Consumer issues were raised again, with Pennsylvanians reporting they have had difficulty – or been unable – to contact L&I by phone or email. Some have said are not getting responses to messages they’ve left. “We’re still handling a large volume,” Dickinson said, recommending that residents try email, the chat line or calling late in the week, Thursday or Friday.
Labor & Industry will have another weekly town hall at 1 p.m. Thursday. It is open to the public, by calling 833-380-0719 or live-streaming at https://access.live/PAlabor.