Unemployment claim scam gains steam across Ohio Brian Lisik, cleveland.com BRUNSWICK, Ohio --- As tax season approaches, and unemployment claims continue to rise due in part to COVID-19-related layoffs, area police departments are reporting a concerning increase in a new type of identity theft. Popular Searches “Identity theft is a constant battle and they are coming up with clever ways to do it,” said Brunswick Hills Police Chief Tim Sopkovich of the roughly 10 to 12 reports of fictitious unemployment claims his department has received in the past month. “With COVID, and the state receiving so many claims for unemployment benefits, (identity thieves) are thinking, why not file a claim?” Sopkovich said. “But I don’t know how they are getting (victims’) information; these people haven’t filed anything. It is not hard to find peoples’ information in this day and age, but some of these are elderly and haven’t worked in years, they are not on social media, so we don’t know.”