How to check if someone filed unemployment under my name - Washington ESD identity theft concern

This is unfortunately becoming more common. You need to contact Washington ESD immediately to report identity theft. Call their fraud hotline and also file a report online. Don't wait on this - fraudulent claims can mess up your employment record and you might get tax documents for benefits you never received.

This is unfortunately becoming more common. You need to contact Washington ESD immediately to report potential identity theft. Log into your SecureAccess Washington (SAW) account at secure.esd.wa.gov and see if there's an active claim showing up that you didn't file. If there is, you'll need to dispute it right away.

same thing happened to my brother last year!! someone filed under his name and he didnt find out until he got a 1099-G tax form. took months to sort out

happened to me last year, someone filed a claim using my info and I didn't find out until I got a 1099-G form for benefits I never received. took months to straighten out

I had this exact situation and honestly the hardest part was actually reaching someone at Washington ESD to report it. The phone lines are constantly busy and when you do get through, you often get disconnected. I found a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get through to an actual agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ showing how it works. Made the whole process much less stressful.

First step is definitely checking your SAW account, but since yours is locked you should try calling Washington ESD. Fair warning though - their phone lines are absolutely slammed and you might wait hours to get through. I've heard people having success with Claimyr (claimyr.com) - it's a service that helps you actually reach Washington ESD agents instead of getting stuck in phone hell. There's a demo video at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works.

You should also file a police report for identity theft and contact the three credit bureaus to put fraud alerts on your credit reports. This isn't just about unemployment benefits - if someone has your SSN they could be doing other damage too.

Check your credit reports too! If someone has enough info to file unemployment under your name, they might try other things. You can get free reports from all three bureaus once a year.

ugh this is my worst nightmare! how do these scammers even get our info to file fake claims?

The Washington ESD system is so broken. This happens ALL the time and they make it impossible to reach anyone to fix it. I spent literally 6 hours on hold last week just to get hung up on.

Check if you received any debit cards in the mail from Washington ESD too. Sometimes the first sign is getting a unemployment benefits debit card you never applied for.

Make sure to document everything - save copies of any letters you received, take screenshots of error messages when trying to log in, keep records of when you called and what happened. You'll need all this for the fraud investigation.

The Washington ESD fraud department is actually pretty good once you get through to them. They have a whole process for identity theft cases. You'll need to fill out identity verification forms and provide documentation that you didn't file the claim.

happened to me too but turned out to be a mistake on their end, not fraud. someone with similar name/SSN got mixed up in their system. still took weeks to fix tho

Whatever you do, don't ignore it. I know someone who thought it would just go away and ended up with major tax problems. The IRS thought he received unemployment income he never got and it was a nightmare to straighten out.

Just to follow up on the Claimyr thing I mentioned earlier - I used them when I had my identity theft issue and they got me through to a fraud specialist within a couple hours instead of days of trying myself. Really worth it when you're dealing with something urgent like this.

Also check if your employer got any verification requests from Washington ESD about your employment. Sometimes that's the first sign something fishy is going on.

Make sure you keep detailed records of everything - dates you called, who you talked to, reference numbers, etc. Identity theft cases can drag on and you'll need that paper trail.

I work in HR and we've had several employees deal with this. The key is acting fast - the longer fraudulent claims stay active, the harder they are to reverse. Don't wait!

Also check with your employer's HR department. Sometimes they get notices about unemployment claims filed by current employees and might have additional information.

Don't forget to check if the fraudsters filed in other states too. It's common for them to hit multiple state unemployment systems with the same stolen identity.

Make sure to change all your important passwords too, especially if you think someone might have gotten access to your personal info. Banking, email, social media - everything.

whatever you do don't ignore it hoping it goes away. had a friend who did that and ended up owing the IRS money for fraudulent benefits he never got

The Washington ESD website has a specific section for reporting fraud. You can submit a report online as well as calling. Sometimes the online reporting gets faster response than the phone lines.

One more thing - if you have direct deposit set up with Washington ESD from years ago, change those bank account details immediately. Fraudsters sometimes try to redirect payments to their own accounts.

This whole situation is exactly why I monitor my credit reports religiously. Everyone should be checking them regularly for suspicious activity.

Update us on how it goes! I'm sure other people will face this same situation and your experience could help them.

The fact that this is so common just shows how broken the Washington ESD system is. They need to do better identity verification before allowing claims to be filed.

One more thing - if you do end up getting a 1099-G tax form for benefits you never received, don't panic. You can dispute it with the IRS, but make sure you have all your fraud documentation ready.

Just wanted to add that when I used Claimyr to reach Washington ESD about my fraud case, the agent was able to see exactly what information was used to file the fake claim. Having that detail really helped with my police report and made the whole investigation go smoother.

update us when you get it sorted out! always curious how these cases turn out

This is scary stuff. Makes me want to check if anyone has filed under my name too. Is there a way to check proactively?

Thanks everyone for all the advice. I'm going to start with filing the police report and trying to reach Washington ESD fraud department. Really appreciate all the help - this seemed overwhelming at first but now I have a plan.

One last tip - if Washington ESD asks you to mail documents, send everything certified mail with return receipt. That way you have proof they received your fraud report and supporting documents.

Hope you get this sorted out quickly. Identity theft is such a violation and then dealing with government bureaucracy on top of it just makes everything worse.

Keep us posted on how the Claimyr thing works out if you try it. Always looking for better ways to actually reach Washington ESD when you need help with something urgent.