CLEVELAND — *Editor's Note: The video in the player above originally aired on February 22, 2021.
As the state of Ohio continues to navigate the impacts of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, government agencies remain dedicated to providing assistance to Ohioans.
Unfortunately, the Ohio unemployment system has been the target of criminals and several claims are being flagged for potential fraud.
On Monday, the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services reported 21,000 claims, of the 120,446 claims filed, were flagged for potential fraud from February 21 to February 27.
On Monday, during his weekly briefing on the state of the pandemic, Gov. Mike DeWine announced that the state has enlisted the help of LexisNexis to keep fraud out of the system. It's a new layer of help to accompany the work being conducted by Asurion.
He also announced the implementation of a partnership with IMG that will help to improve the department's call center, so that Ohioans with unemployment questions will be able to receive answers in a more timely fashion.
Ohioans filed 327,382 continued jobless claims last week, which was 448,920 fewer than – or about 42% of – the peak last year.
Anyone who suspects their identity was compromised and used to file a fraudulent unemployment claim is urged to report it to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services immediately by visiting its website, and clicking the “Report Identity Theft” button, and following the instructions. As an alternative, individuals also may call (833) 658-0394.