Established via the Social Security Act of 1935, the Federal-State Unemployment Insurance (UI) Program is an important public benefit available to Americans who become unemployed through no fault of their own. Unemployment insurance gives its beneficiaries continued financial stability and has helped keep individuals and families afloat during gaps in employment as they actively search for their next opportunity.
As of April 2017, there were 2 million Americans claiming unemployment benefits. With such a large population of claimants, there is room for fraudulent activity. Unemployment eligibility fraud is a $3.6 billion problem in the U.S.
The TotalVerify™ data hub from Equifax offers Incarceration Intelligence™, a solution that gives agencies access to timely data that helps them locate and monitor beneficiaries, with the end goal of eliminating improper payments and increasing savings.
We offer workforce agencies access to near real-time, nation-wide incarceration data and a team of experts to implement and support it. With our breadth of data and technical expertise, workforce agencies can address many of the challenges that coincide with incarcerated beneficiaries.
Today, 15 workforce agencies partner with us to combat UI fraud. Some of the benefits our customers have realized include:
Collectively, our workforce agency customers conduct over 48 million searches and save over $30 million in improper payments each year.
Equifax operates the nation’s most comprehensive and current incarceration data network, with direct jail management system interfaces to over 2,000 jails and DOC facilities. Collaborating with workforce agencies across the country, we have identified a critical need for access to near real-time incarceration data to help them locate and monitor beneficiaries that are in the various stages of incarceration.
Our Incarceration Intelligence solution gives state workforce agencies access to timely data that helps agencies identify and subsequently cease fraudulent unemployment insurance payments.
Agencies are able to place “watches” on their UI claimant lists, and receive alerts when matching individuals are: