Norton Residents Among Those Targeted In Unemployment Fraud

NORTON, MA — Norton police said several residents are among those who have been targeted in what is believed to be a nationwide organized crime scheme to commit unemployment fraud.

In the scheme, residents received letters from the Office of Unemployment Assistanceconfirming unemployment benefits, yet never received benefits. Police said the victims likely had their identities compromised in an earlier data breach, and were having their benefits rerouted to a fraudulent account. Norton police believe this is part of a nationwide fraud effort.

Anyone who is targeted with this scheme is asked to report it here.

The fraudulent claims have led to delays in processing weekly unemployment payments as the Massachusetts Department of Labor places individual calls to people who have filed for unemployment benefits to verify their identity.

The U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday that another 37,740 Massachusetts residents filed for first time unemployment benefits for the week ended May 23. The Massachusetts unemployment rate of 15.1 percent in April was the highest since the Great Depression.

The Office of Unemployment Assistance is setting up an on-line portal for victims who receive this letter to report the fraud directly to the state.

Patch Editor Dave Copeland contributed to this report.

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