According to some estimates, up to 400,000 Colorado residents are currently impacted by an unemployment insurance fraud scheme that is sweeping the nation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Sophisticated criminal rings” are using stolen Personally Identifiable Information (PII) to file false unemployment claims. Unfortunately, many victims of this identity theft don’t find out until receiving IRS 1099-G Forms for unemployment benefits that they did not receive. Why is this happening? According to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE), unemployment fraud has “become rampant,” in Colorado and in other states during the COVID-19 pandemic. One reason CDLE cites is that the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program does not have the same checks, balances, and security measures that [...]