KENTUCKY, USA — The Kentucky Office of Unemployment Insurance (OUI) announced claimants will no longer be able to make changes to bank account information on file with the agency.
The change is an effort to protect claimants after some reported unauthorized changes to their bank accounts. The agency is working to verify those reports and notify anyone who may have been impacted.
According to officials, there has not been a security breach and these incidents are believed to be isolated instances of fraud.
“In this newest form, the fraudulent activity occurs when criminals exploit unsophisticated PIN numbers (e.g. “1111” or “1234”) created by claimants, used in conjunction with publicly available information obtained from other sources on the Internet,” OUI said in a release.
The agency encourages claimants to create strong, complex PIN numbers to prevent unauthorized access. They also ask everyone receiving unemployment money via direct deposits to check the payment information on file with OUI immediately and opt to receive paper checks if the information is incorrect.
Effective immediately, new claimants will only receive payments in the form of paper checks, OUI said.
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