Ohio Department of Job and Family Services says it will spend more than $12 million to fix the issues relating to unemployment fraud and customer service.
The state will pay $2.1 million to IBM, $8.6 million over six years to Experian and $2 million to LexisNexis.
The contracts of IBM and Experian were both a result of a Request for Quote (RFQ).
LexisNexis was not.
A spokesperson from ODJFS says IBM will work to improve processing claims and other customer service enhancements along with speeding up processing times. They said it will be utilized in both the traditional unemployment program and Pandeumc Unemployment Assistance (PUA).
ODJFS says the contracts of Experian and LexisNexis are for fraud detection, sophisticated identity tools and overall prevention with enhanced security. The contract with Experian is only for the traditional unemployment program and the LexisNexis contract is specifically for the PUA program.
Unemployment fraud and identity theft is a widespread national issue in every state.
ODJFS says anyone that suspects their identity could be compromised should report fraud immediately here.
Of the 1.4 million unemployment claims filed since May 2020, ODJFS says half were flagged as fraudulent.
