Kent Police are warning residents to be on the lookout for recent, fraudulent unemployment scams:

As our region and nation are seeing an unprecedented number of legitimate unemployment claims, there are also a very large number of fraudulent unemployment benefit claims being filed.

If you become aware of or suspect you have been a victim of unemployment fraud, you should report it to the Washington State Employment Security Department through one of the following methods:

- - Email: [email protected]
  - Toll-free number: 800-246-9763
  - Faxing a letter to: 360-902-9771

Information to include in your email:

- Your full name
- Last 4 numbers of your Social Security number (never put your full SSN in an email)
- Your address
- Your date of birth
- Brief description of how you found out an impostor-fraud claim was filed using your information

Please let ESD know: If an impostor-fraud claim was filed using your information, do you give ESD permission to deny and cancel it?

Employers can file on behalf of their employees by filling out an online template here: https://esd.wa.gov/unemployment/unemployment-benefits-fraud

After you have reported to the Employment Security Department, file an online police report to make us aware of the fraud by visiting: https://www.kentwa.gov/…/…/file-a-police-report-online/fraud

You can further report suspected employment-related fraud to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), information is available at their website: www.irs.gov/identity-thef…/employment-related-identity-theft