Colorado Department Of Labor Sees Fewer Claims This Week, Increases Fraud Unit Staff
DENVER (CBS4)- In Colorado, more than 14,000 people applied for unemployment benefits last week. This is the first week of benefits since the government stopped the additional $600 from federal funds that was included in the first stimulus package when the pandemic first escalated.
The 14,000 is 3,000 fewer than the week before, according to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.
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Since March, there have been nearly 680,000 claims filed in Colorado. In that time, the state has paid out more than $4 billion in benefits.
The Colorado Department of Labor has seen thousands of fraud with unemployment benefits. There has been a sharp increase in people receiving fake debit cards.
"We are increasing the size of our investigations unit, we are currently investigating thousands of instances of fraud and working with the Secret Service, federal and local agencies, to detect and prosecute once we identify a criminal or criminals and the fraudulent
act," said a representative with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.
The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment said to protect yourself, if you believe you are the target of fraud, call the number on the card and have it deactivated and then fill out a fraud form on the website. Alert all three credit reporting agencies and file a police report. It's also a good idea to notify the Federal Trade Commission and save those documents.
