Unemployment benefits in Pennsylvania: how to claim the weekly payment
Residents who have exhausted their state or federal jobless payments can use the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) programme to extend the weekly payments.
SAUL LOEB
AFP
As the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic continue to strangle the American jobs market, more people are being forced to rely on
unemployment insurance to ensure that they can pay the bills. In Pennsylvania, the
Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation programme, or
PEUC for short, has proved to be a vital lifeline.
The weekly payments are funded by the emergency stimulus bill signed into law in late December as the additional unemployment benefits were on the brink of running out. The PEUC programme provides an additional 24 weeks of support for those who have exhausted their state benefits.
bkibler@altoonamirror.com
The Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General so far has arrested 29 fraudsters in six “fraud rings” who stole a total of $2.5 million in federal unemployment compensation.
And there are several other investigations ongoing, according to Chief Deputy AG Brian Zarallo, speaking Tuesday in a virtual news conference hosted by the Department of Labor & Industry.
“Fraudsters have been stepping up their efforts to gather Pennsylvanians’ personal information, including usernames, passwords, unemployment compensation personal identification numbers and Social Security numbers,” stated a joint agency news release that accompanied the briefing on Pandemic Unemployment Assistance cheating. “The goal of these scammers is to create fraudulent unemployment program claims or log into existing claims and redirect unemployment benefits payments.”
Fraud, according to the U.S. Labor Department, is the primary reason more than $36 billion in unemployment payments have been lost since the pandemic began a year ago.
Scammers have largely focused on the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which was created by the federal CARES Act late last March. And this is going on in all states, the acting secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry said on Tuesday afternoon.
âFraudsters are stealing information,â Jennifer Berrier said during a virtual news briefing. âSome are creating Facebook pages that look like L&Iâs Facebook page or falsely identify themselves as L&I employees.
Updated: 3:37 PM EST February 16, 2021
HARRISBURG, Pa. The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program has been a magnet for scammers since it launched in March 2020. Pennsylvania officials on Feb. 16 warned residents to continue staying vigilant against unemployment compensation fraud.
The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office has so far arrested 29 people in relation to unemployment compensation fraud, representing six individual fraud rings and $2.5 million in illegally acquired funds.
Scammers often use others personal information, such as usernames, passwords and Social Security numbers.
“A lot of identity theft doesn’t happen because you’re being careless. It happens because you’ve been implicated in a breach. Unfortunately there’s a great deal of information available on the dark web,” said Chief Deputy Attorney General Brian Zarallo.
STATE OFFICIALS WARNING OF UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION SCAMS wdadradio.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wdadradio.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.