FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Kentucky Office of Unemployment Insurance (UI) is requiring claimants to use a new ID verification system. The office said the new requirement is an effort to mitigate fraud.
Claimants will now need to have their identity verified through ID.me, a third-party ID verification vendor. The change begins Nov. 4 and all users must register an account with the company to verify their identity to access their claim.
“This strategic move is expected to help reduce the number of fraudulent unemployment insurance claims that have been a drag on the program,” Labor Cabinet Secretary Jamie Link. “It will significantly reduce the amount of time our employees spend working on, or even handling, fraudulent claims and allow us to realign our resources to help those claimants who have waited far too long for assistance.”
The department said the site will become the point of entry for all claimants via a new single sign-on portal. Unemployment officials began utilizing ID.me in June as part of a series of actions aimed at curtailing fraud and began taking aim over the summer at thousands of dormant claims.
Claimants can schedule an in-person or a phone appointment at any regional Kentucky Career Center office, regardless of their location. They can simply select a phone appointment option if they do not wish to travel to that office at the time they schedule the appointment.
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