Got this notice from State of Maryland .... Please let your employer know if you haven't already!!!!!
Subject: Fraudulent Charges on Q4 Benefit Charge Statements
Dear Employer:
As we enter 2021, the Maryland Division of Unemployment Insurance continues to see a record number of unemployment insurance claims filed by Marylanders whose jobs have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. With this record number of unemployment insurance claims, Maryland, and states across the entire country, have seen an increase in activity by bad actors and fraudsters who aim to take advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic by using illegally obtained data to file fraudulent unemployment insurance claims.
Please note that there has been no breach in our BEACON unemployment system. Fraudsters are using identities and personal identifiable information stolen from prior data breaches, such as Equifax, Target, and the Federal Office of Personnel Management to file fraudulent Unemployment Insurance claims.
Specifically, the Division has seen an increase in the number of claims fraudulently filed in the names of people who are actively working. This means that claims may be fraudulently filed for your employee, even though the employee is still working for you and is not unemployed. While we continue to work with our federal partners and banking institutions to combat fraud, you will
NOT be charged for any fraudulent benefits associated with your account.
The Division of Unemployment Insurance recently issued the benefit charge statement for the fourth quarter of 2020 for both contributory and reimbursing not-for-profit employers and government entities. The benefit charge statement for contributory employers is not a bill, but serves to notify contributory employers of charges against their account and identifies former employees who have received benefits during the fourth quarter of 2020.
Please review your benefit charge statement to ensure that all claimant benefits charged to your account are proper and that the identified claimant is unemployed and does not currently work for you.
The benefit charge statement for reimbursing not-for-profit employers and government entities, however, is a bill for benefits charged against these employers’ accounts and identifies former employees who have received benefits during the fourth quarter of 2020.
Please review your benefit charge statement to ensure that all claimant benefits charged to your account are proper and that the identified claimant is unemployed and does not currently work for you. When making a payment, please exclude any charges for those claims you are protesting. The Division will investigate your protest and will remove charges that are deemed fraudulent.
If you believe a fraudulent claim has been charged to your account, please file a benefit charge protest. The easiest and quickest way to file a protest is through your employer portal at
employer.beacon.labor.md.gov. To file a request for relief of charges, click on the “Benefit Charge Functions” menu option, choose the current year and quarter for charges that you want to protest, and click the “Request Relief of Charges” button. Select the button for an employee to protest, select a “Reason for Protest”, enter a note with detail, upload any files for documentation, and then select “Submit”. Repeat for any other employee charges you wish to protest.
Otherwise, you may mail a protest to:
Division of Unemployment Insurance
Review Determination Unit
1100 N. Eutaw Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
If fraudulent claims continue to be charged to your account, please contact the fraud unit via email at
ui.fraud@maryland.gov to report the fraudulent activity. The fraud unit will investigate and cancel the claim if it is determined to be fraudulent.
If you have any additional questions or concerns, please reach out to the Employer Call Center at 410-949-0033. We look forward to continuing to work together as we navigate our way through the COVID-19 pandemic.
