Employment insurance fraud: ‘alarmingly easy,’ says ex-employee

Mr. Y, who disclosed some of his notes to us on condition of anonymity, worked during the first half of 2021 within the federal agency. It threw me to the floor to see how easy it is to cheat on employment insurance, he says. That’s why I wrote to you.

On Wednesday, Radio Canada reported Canada refused service To shed more light on the widespread fraud that occurred there. Cases of fraud have been reported on victims without their knowledge and they still find it difficult to settle their case, or even obtain their benefits.

” I don’t know if the rules have changed since then, but all it took was a name, date of birth, and Social Security number. »

With this information, your first online benefits application can simply be made without a doubt on the Canadian Employment and Social Development website.

In the same way, it was also possible, according to him, to apply for renewal when the file was active. The new information that was registered in the My Service Canada Account was then replaced, access to which remains secure.

I’ve seen cases of people being targeted by a fraudulent renewal app where the address, bank account, mother’s maiden name, phone number, and language were changed without being detected by the system, he recalls. When we realized this, we blocked the file.

” This situation raised me and contributed to my departure. »

data leak The private sector and financial institutions In Quebec, according to Service Canada itself, Far more identity theft scams.

At that time, Mr. Y recalls, customers were forbidden to use the word Forgery. We had to talk about the irregularitiesHe says.

The majority of cases he had to deal with did not match the file tagsCommon reference tool. Agent support was called, he says, but there were no instructions. It was free To find out what to do.

Measures to protect the integrity of benefit programsIt has since been integrated into its system, the agency says.

He was defrauded without being unemployed

Among the questions we did not get clear answers to from Service Canada were the following: Have there been false claims for benefits on behalf of people who have not applied for an EI before?

Publication of our story has led to a flood of emails from victims who have not yet been able to compromise their files.

replies Émile Pottier, the engineer by profession who has never resorted to unemployment in his life yes. I accidentally realized in January on the portal of the Canada Revenue Agency that there is a T4E, he wrote. Service Canada told me they had already noticed fraudulent activity and blocked further payments and [étaient] correct the situation.

The criminals’ application was filed in August 2021, without ever notifying them. Mr. Potter is still waiting for a modified T4E, eight months after his identity was stolen. When filing his income tax return, he thus had to enter amounts he had never seen before.

” It’s amazing and frustrating that, months after the fact, taxpayers have to file money for fraud and suffer administrative hassles. »

Service Canada says that Citizens who suspect improper activity on their Social Security number that is not caused by their own actions should report this to Service Canada as soon as possible..

from the changes has been made

Meanwhile, many EI claimants are still waiting for the checks they requested. So far, the accounts of more than 14,500 customers have been restored.

During Thursday’s questioning period in the House of Commons, in response to the Quebecoa bloc, the Federal Minister for Family, Children and Social Development, Karina Gould, confirmed that Note that there is an increase in fraud cases.

Changes have been made to Service Canada to ensure that people with legitimate claims can receive their benefitsshe added.

So far, Service Canada has not been able to tell us how many files have been compromised and are still under review.