PEORIA, Ill. — Peoria Police are reminding the public to be aware of possible Unemployment Fraud and Identity Theft as they have seen an increase in reports lately.
People have told Peoria Police they received a letter from the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) saying they filed for unemployment even though they had not.
They also say they received a debit card to activate in order to collect the benefits.
Other victims of the fraudulent activity say their employer notified them that a claim for benefits had been filed with IDES even though they remain employed by the company.
Peoria Police are strongly those who may be targeted take the following steps:
DO NOT DELAY AND ACT QUICKLY
Call the IDES Benefit Payment Control Division at (800) 814-0513 or complete the IDES
Contact Form found at this website.
DO NOT activate the debit card that was mailed to you
DO NOT contact KeyBank
Destroy the card
Report the theft of your identity to local law enforcement (Peoria Police Department (309) 673-4521) the same day you contact IDES.
Request your free credit report via www.annualcreditreport.com to monitor for other
fraudulent activities
