Heffley Calls for Immediate Action to Stop UC Fraud

July 28, 2021

HARRISBURG – With reports of unemployment compensation (UC) fraud skyrocketing across Pennsylvania, Rep. Doyle Heffley (R-Carbon) has joined 50 of his colleagues in the House of Representatives in calling for immediate action by the Pennsylvania attorney general and the Wolf administration to put a stop to the rampant criminal activity through creation of a multi-agency task force.

The group made their request in a letter to Attorney General Josh Shapiro, Auditor General Tim DeFoor, Treasurer Stacy Garrity, Labor and Industry (L&I) Secretary Jennifer Berrier and Secretary of Revenue Daniel Hassell on Tuesday.

“We expressed our concerns about the financial cost of these scams, as well as the growing risk for identity theft and the impact on unemployed workers with legitimate claims who are not being served,” said Heffley. “After a year and a half, UC phone lines still go unanswered much of the time and the fraudulent claims are just adding exponentially to the calls being made to L&I. We cannot continue to sit by while our constituents suffer.”

The multi-agency task force would be charged with hunting down the criminals committing the fraud, implementing antifraud technology and procedures, auditing the UC processes during the pandemic, and determining how much tax money is being wasted processing false claims and being stolen by fraudsters.

The letter is here.

Representative Doyle Heffley
122nd Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Andy Briggs
717-260-6474
abriggs@pahousegop.com
RepHeffley.com / Facebook.com/RepHeffley