Employed North Texan Receives Unemployment Benefits He Never Applied For
MIDLOTHIAN, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - When it came to his mailbox, Ronald Floyd of Midlothian immediately thought it was junk mail.
However, when he opened the envelope, inside was a US Bank ReliaCard - a debit card used for unemployment benefits.
The problem is Floyd did not file for unemployment.
"I've been employed for 40 years. I've never filed for unemployment." he said. "I just want to make sure that my name is off the list of those receiving benefits so it doesn't come up on my taxes or if someday I do need unemployment I don't want them to say I've already received it."
The Texas Workforce Commission said it has identified cases where someone files a claim using a false identity and requests payment by debit card.
In some cases, the debit card is actually sent to the victim's home because that's the address associated with the information.
Across the country, there has been reports of fraudsters using stolen identities to file unemployment claims by using the option of "self-employed".
Security experts say Floyd's identity likely was stolen in recent years in one of the big security breaches and then sold on the dark web.
The TWC said people should call its Fraud and Program Abuse hotline at 1-800-252-3642 to report suspected fraud.
Floyd put a lock on his credit and contacted US Bank to cancel the card.
After calling TWC for two weeks but unable to get through, on Tuesday Floyd said he received a call from the state agency telling him they are looking into his case.
