DeKalb Times

An Illinois state representative has expressed frustration with a media report that some unemployment fraud victims have had their state income tax refunds withheld.

State Rep. Jeff Keicher (R-Sycamore) responded in a March 26 Facebook post to a report by ABC7 I-Team of a Joliet woman who thought she successfully battled unemployment fraud only to learn later that “her state tax refund of $768 was being held” for overpayment of unemployment benefits. The woman hadn’t filed an unemployment claim, ABC7 I-Team said.

“Some unemployment fraud victims in Illinois are now facing a new problem by wrongly having their state income tax refunds withheld,” Keicher said on Facebook. “This is a grossly unfair and unacceptable consequence of the Pritzker Administration's failure to protect Illinois residents from fraud within the IDES system.”

The Illinois Department of Employment Security in a July 22, 2020 news release warned that a nationwide unemployment fraud scheme was affecting Illinois residents. The scheme mostly involved the state’s federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance programs that were put in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the news release said.

“An individual who has not filed an unemployment claim but has received a debit card or an unemployment insurance (UI) finding letter in the mail has most likely been the target of fraud,” the news release said.

IDES has tips to report unemployment insurance fraud” on its website, which has a link on how to report identity theft.

“Identity fraud is a nationwide issue with bad actors using information from the major data breaches of the past to exploit unemployment claims during this pandemic,” a March 26 IDES Facebook post said. “But know that we're here to help. We continue to work with state and federal law enforcement authorities to investigate fraud and protect claimants. In the year through January, we've stopped nearly 1.1 million claims involving identity theft.”

State income tax refunds are sent out by the Illinois Office of Comptroller after that office receives payment information from the Illinois Department of Revenue, the Illinois State Comptroller’s website said.

The woman in the ABC7 I-Team report whose state tax refund was held was eventually told “her check is in the mail,” the report said.