New Effort Helps Decrease Unemployment Fraud In New Jersey
By David Madden
TRENTON, N.J. (CBS) – New Jersey officials are taking another step in their effort to combat fraud when it comes to filing for unemployment compensation.
The state Labor Department has saved over $150 million over the last year and a half mostly by cross checking those getting new jobs with the current file of beneficiaries to avoid double-dipping.
This new effort is called "identity proofing" and you've probably already dealt with it in one form or another..
"It asks you three questions about yourself, pretty much a questionnaire on your own biography. You have to answer those questions and if you don't, it simply won't let you enter the unemployment system and you'll have to come in, in person," explains labor commissioner Harold Wirths.
New Jersey is one of several states with its unemployment trust fund in the red, and Wirths says efforts like this will help turn that around.
