McDugle, Boggs Warn Employers to Be Wary of Fraudulent Unemployment Claims

OKLAHOMA CITY – State Rep. Kevin McDugle, R-Broken Arrow, and State Sen. Larry Boggs, R-Wilburton, today issued a reminder to employers across the state to watch out for fraudulent unemployment claims.

“Our unemployment laws have been relaxed to aid Oklahomans in need so they can be approved for claims faster, but many people are attempting to take advantage of a system designed to help people during this time,” McDugle said. “Employers are receiving fraudulent unemployment claims from all across the state, including farmers. Some of these fraudulent claims may be from someone falsely filing as an employee, but some of them are people who may have never worked for your business.

“Employers need to be aware that if they don’t deny a claim, the fraudster can receive the benefits,” McDugle continued. “Please carefully examine every letter you receive from the OESC to help prevent fraudulent claims and ensure unemployment benefits are reserved for Oklahomans who are truly in need.”

“As soon as reports started coming in of scams on these hard-working Oklahomans, I knew we needed to address this quickly,” Boggs said. “I am thankful that the Attorney General and OESC, who are already doing yeoman’s work to stay on top of protecting Oklahomans, are taking measures to help address this issue. We must all be on guard and report any occurrence of this to authorities so we can shut this down. I will continue to assist our district and state in standing watch.”

Attorney General Mike Hunter has set up a page allowing individuals or businesses that receive bogus claims to fill out a form reporting the claim. The claim will then be directed to law enforcement to be addressed.

The form can be accessed here: https://bit.ly/35lium2 and submitted to [email protected].

For more information on false claims and other resources related to unemployment for individuals and business owners, visit https://oesc.ok.gov/.