Thousands of people have discovered that they have been victims of employment insurance fraud in recent months. Until now, these Canadians did not know how they were deceived. Despite repeated requests over several weeks, Service Canada refused to explain exactly what happened.
Furthermore, many claimants we spoke to to maintain that they were never notified by the federal institution. They discovered this on their own, either because they weren’t receiving their benefits – which sometimes puts them in a dangerous situation – or because they accessed their file online to get their T4E slip.
It seems like the modus operandi is the same in all cases. The addresses and the bank account were changed in complete ignorance of the service providers and, in all likelihood, with a certain ease.
We want to clarify that Service Canada accounts have not been hackedsaid the agency. We know that fraudsters can use information (for example, name, social insurance number, date of birth, a relative’s last name, or even passwords) following the theft of ‘identifiers.
Never notified
Defined by Service Canada that the Quebec region has experienced a higher number of frauds related to identity theft or their identity being compromised by the private sector and financial institutions.
Most of the people who told us about their misfortune were customers of Desjardins, an institution that experienced a massive leak of personal information in 2019.
But some do not, like Manuel Lévesque of Saint-Lin – Laurentides. I told them [à Service Canada] which is impossible, because I am not part of credit union fraudhe says. I was not deceived except by unemployment.
Mr. Lévesque, who drives cement mixers, explained that he applied for employment insurance in December, but did not receive any. After a few weeks and a second request free of charge, this is it dropped to the unemployment office to find out that his account had been compromised a few months before: By talking to the lady, I found out that my unemployment was rigged in July and August!
” Or so […] What I block is that they don’t call anyone to warn anyone. “
Still awaiting his checks and the regularization of his file, Manuel Lévesque is not losing his temper with Service Canada. If we owed them five dollars, they sent us a letterhe quips.
For Éliane L., a client at Desjardins, she also wonders why she was not notified. When he wanted to apply, he noticed that his address and bank account had changed, but he could do nothing, as his account had been revoked.
They told me I had nothing to worry about and blocked the request, because they knew the fraudulent address.he says.
” It was really hard, because sometimes there were four to five hours waiting in line [au téléphone]. “
The case of Éliane L. is not unique. By the end of January, additional staff and measures had, according to Service Canada, restored benefit payments to more than 14,500 clients. It is not possible to obtain from the agency the exact number of victims of identity theft or the amounts that may have been paid incorrectly.
Checking Madame X’s file
We urged Service Canada to better understand the source of the security breach. We cannot discuss individual cases without a waiverwe are told.
A client, whose account has been hijacked and we will call Ms. X to maintain his identity, therefore agreed to sign for Radio-Canada’s consent form for the release of personal information to the media. He discovered the scam when he wanted to download his T4E slip for filing his income tax return.
After all, the agency did not answer our question because, rationally, on December 21, an anomaly was detected in the information provided by the fraudster and a stop payment was added to the file [de madame X] 31st December. First reaction of the service provider: Why on the night of February 7, when I discovered the situation, I still hadn’t received a call or letter?
The government institution maintains that its file is paid from February 16, 2022. Second reaction of the service provider: Why does it still appear in my file as a review request?
Program Security
The government says it has implemented measures to protect the integrity of benefit programs including developing solutions for verifying customer authentication information such as mandatory multi-factor authentication.
However, in order to access her file, Ms. X of such authentication using a security code sent via text message in nearly a year when the fraudsters were able to change the information in his account. He did not receive any alert.
As the cases presented in these lines illustrate, however, Service Canada seems to have succeeded in blocking some dishonest attempts, thanks to data analytics and intelligence capabilities to prevent, detect and deter fraud.
On a massive scale
The National Council of the Unemployed, which defends the rights of unemployed workers, results in identity theft to such an extent that we have not yet been able to explain.
There are thousands of people who have been locked out of unemployment because of a claim made for themsaid his spokesman Pierre Céré. Sometimes it takes a few months to unlock them and it goes on.
Mr. Céré recalled a meeting in January with Service Canada officials where his organization raised the topic: They stopped breathing, because at that time they didn’t want to acknowledge it, at least in public.
” It is abnormal for files to drag on for months. The more surreal is almost necessary, as a worker, to show a state of apathy on the part of the claimant for the file to be processed. “
The Bloc Québécois was involved
We don’t know if the way criminals can certainly be prevented or if Canadians who have never used employment insurance can be targeted.
On April 1, in a letter sent to the Minister of National Revenue, Diane Lebouthillier, the Bloc Québécois pointed out that cases of employment insurance fraud is likely to rise sharply when people receive their notice of assessment and realize they have to pay tax on amounts they have not yet seen the color of.
The political party is also angry that taxpayers are still in debt tax payment is not fair in Canada emergency and recovery benefits they did not get.
The author of the letter, MP Jean-Denis Garon, asks the Minister for an extension for those deceived, the time to resolve the situation, and this, without interestat the Canada Revenue Agency issues a new assessment notice when the revised T4E is received from Service Canada.
Source: Radio-Canada
