Unemployment benefits "imposter" fraud happens when someone illegally files a claim using your information. If you think someone applied for unemployment benefits using your information, report it.
Reporting fraud will lock your eServices account and delay payments. Before submitting a report, be aware of common issues that people mistake for fraud:
Use our Employers: Report imposter fraud form.
How to report if anyone is claiming unemployment benefits and should not be
You can report fraud that is not related to your own unemployment benefits. Use our contact-us form.
- Choose the “Report benefits fraud” dropdown.
- Include as much information as you can.
How to report tax fraud
Tax fraud is when employers do not properly report their employees’ wages and hours to us. Or employers might not pay their fair share of unemployment taxes.
To report tax fraud, use our contact-us form.
- Choose the “Report tax fraud” dropdown.
- Include as much information as you can.
How to report fraud in the Paid Leave program
The Paid Family and Medical Leave Ombuds investigates, reports on and helps settle complaints about service deficiencies and concerns with the Paid Family and Medical Leave program.
Contact the ombuds if you believe:
- A worker is engaging in fraud to receive Paid Leave benefits.
- An employer unlawfully interferes with a worker’s ability to get benefits.
You can contact the ombuds in several ways. Go to the Paid Leave website to read more about the ombuds.
How to report if an ESD employee is engaging in fraud or misconduct
Use our contact-us form.
- Choose the “Report internal fraud by an employee” dropdown.
- Include as much information as you can.
Workplace poster about fraud
Download for your workplace:
How fraud affects employers' unemployment tax rates
Unemployment taxes in Washington have 2 parts:
- An experience rating tax based on how many former employees receive unemployment benefits.
- A social tax not related to a specific employer.
When an employee experiences fraud, their employer's experience rating tax will not increase. But fraud might increase the social tax for all employers.
After reporting fraud
You will receive:
- An automatic reply when you report fraud.
- An email from us about what to do if you cannot access your account or apply for benefits.
You do not owe us any money because of fraud unless you received benefits through fraud. We will ask you to repay those benefits.
You can still apply for benefits after reporting fraud. We can tell which claim is correct.
Protecting yourself after identity theft (imposter fraud)
If you think someone stole your information, you can:
What we do to fight fraud
We detect fraud in several ways:
- Our system finds signs of fraud.
- We compare our data with other sources, including a national fraud detection system.
- You report fraud to us.
- Your employer reports fraud to us.
Our Office of Special Investigations audits claims to ensure we pay benefits correctly. If we catch someone committing fraud, they:
- Will pay penalties.
- Will repay the benefits.
- May be charged with crimes.
To prevent fraud, we:
- Work with other states and the federal government to cross-match data.
- Use best practices for information security.
Getting back stolen benefits
We work with law enforcement and financial companies to get the money back and catch the people who stole it.
Relevant laws and rules
Go to the Washington State Legislature's website to read:
