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Fraud and Integrity

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Report Fraud or Abuse

Fraud and abuse cost Mississippi taxpayers and businesses money. Help prevent financial loss by reporting suspected wrongdoing to the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.

What is considered fraud?
Identity Theft – someone has filed for unemployment using a person’s social security number or information that does not belong to them;
Claimant/Wage & Income – includes intentionally not reporting wage and income while collecting full benefits; submitting false information; continuing to collect unemployment when no longer eligible; or
Employer/Tax Fraud – where an employer has created false information to avoid tax liability.

 

How to Report Fraud

 

Alert MDES immediately:

Email: safe@mdes.ms.gov

Call: 601-493-9427

 

 

To Report Fraud Related to Unemployment Insurance

 

  1. File a police report with your local police or sheriff’s department and

  2. Complete the MDES Identity Theft Affidavit (click here to download).

  3. To complete this process, you must provide the following:

– Police Report

– Identity Theft Affidavit

– Driver’s license or state issued picture ID

 

Click here to upload identity theft documents

 

If you are unable to upload the documents you can email them to MDES at safe@mdes.ms.gov.  

If you receive a debit card, email a legible copy of the front and back of the card to safe@mdes.ms.gov. Destroy the card immediately to prevent activation.

You will continue to receive correspondence from MDES until the cancellation process is complete.

 

 

To Report Fraud or Abuse Not Related to Unemployment Insurance, click here.

 

 

 

From the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office

If You're a Victim of Identity Theft…

 

If you believe that you are a victim of identity theft, complete the following checklist in order to protect yourself immediately against any future abuses of your identity, begin an official investigation of the theft, and repair any damage your credit sustained.

  • Contact your local police department and file a report of the theft. Obtain a copy of the report for your records and to assist in clearing your name. Your local police will be your first line of defense.

  • Contact the fraud department of one of the three major credit bureaus. Inform them that you are an identity theft victim and that you wish to place a fraud alert on your file, as well as a victim's statement requesting a call to you by the credit bureaus before opening or changing credit accounts. Also, request a copy of your credit report. As a result of this one request, all three major credit bureaus will send you a copy of your credit report. To request a free copy of your credit report go to www.annualcreditreport.com or call Equifax (800) 685-1111, Experian (888) 397-3742 and TransUnion (800) 680-7289.

  • File a report with the Federal Trade Commission.  Inform them that you are an identity theft victim and that you wish to place a fraud alert on your file, as well as a victim's statement requesting a call to you by the credit bureaus before opening or changing credit accounts. Also, request a copy of your credit report. As a result of this one request, all three major credit bureaus will send you a copy of your credit report. To request a free copy of your credit report, go to www.annualcreditreport.com or call Equifax (800) 685-1111, Experian (888) 397-3742 and TransUnion (800) 680-7289.

  • To file a report with the Federal Trade Commission visit www.consumer.gov/idtheft or call 1-877-438-4338, the FTC’s Identity Theft Hotline.