Brothers and Sister:
The Retired Association has been made aware of two retirees that have had false claims using their information to the unemployment administration. The Financial Crimes Division has issued the below memorandum. The false claims concern both active and retired FOP personnel. Additional information will be posted when received. Many thanks to Brother Mark Rimkus for assistance in this matter.
From Departments Financial Crimes
- Monitor yours and your family’s credit. At a minimum create a fraud alert, (which is good for 1 year), for free. If you get a credit freeze, (Which is recommended), this is free. Refer to the attached pamphlet for the credit bureau contact information.
- Make a report with Department of Labor at; www.dllr.state.md.us, to report the fraud.
Download the form. (To save time, the form has been attached to the e-mail). Once completed, e-mail to; ui.fraud@maryland.gov
(Do not attempt to call. There is not enough staff to handle the volume of calls).
- Create an account through the Social Security Administration.
https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount/. Through prior investigations the Financial Crimes Unit and Federal Agencies have found that the bad actors can apply for an account and apply for benefits using your personal information, if you have not set up an account. YOU WILL BE UNAWARE OF THIS UNTIL YOU APPLY FOR BENEFITS.
- Look into ChexSystem. If you have LifeLock there is a prompt you can click on to go to
the website. https://www.chexsystems.com
Q: What is ChexSystem? It is added protection from someone opening accounts in your name
Or writing checks in your name. Once you apply, you will receive a PIN number in the
mail.
Q: How Long does the Freeze last? 5 years
Q: If I want to temporarily unfreeze, to open another bank account, what do I do?
Call 800.887. 7652, Customer relations to temporarily unfreeze account
