Thousands of Canadians who were deceived by Service Canada last year were deceived with “amazing ease”, in the words of a former EI payment agent.
Mr. Y, who expressed some of his observations to us on condition of anonymity, worked in the first half of 2021 within the federal agency. I was thrown to the ground to see how easy it was to cheat on job insurance, he said. So I write to you.
On Wednesday, Radio-Canada reported Service Canada’s refusal to clarify the large-scale fraud that took place there. Cases of victims who cheated unknowingly and still have difficulty settling their case, or whether to receive their benefits, are reported there.
” I don’t know if the policies have changed, but all it takes is a name, date of birth and social insurance number. “
With this information, the first application for benefits can only be made online without suspicion on the Employment and Social Development Canada website.
In the same way, it is also possible, according to him, to apply for renewal when a file is active. The new information is overwritten which is recorded in the My Service Canada Account, where access is secure.
I have seen cases of people being targeted by a fraudulent renewal application where the address, bank account, maid’s name, phone number and mother’s language were changed without it being detected by the system, he recalls. When we found out, we blocked the file.
” This situation upset me and it contributed to my departure. “
The data leaked private sector and financial institutions in Quebec took the lead, according to Service Canada itself, a significantly higher number of scams associated with identity theft.
At that time, the recollection of Mr. Y, agents are prohibited from using the word fraud. We had to talk about irregularitieshe says.
Most of the cases he had to deal with did not match the tagsstandard reference tool. Agent support was called, he said, but there were no guidelines. It is from freestyle to know what to do.
Measures to protect the integrity of benefit programssays the agency, has since done so in its system.
Deceived, without losing his job
Among the questions for which we have not received a clear answer from Service Canada are the following: are there false claims for benefits on behalf of people who have not applied for EI before?
The publication of our story has resulted in an avalanche of emails from victims who are still unable to regularize their file.
Émile Pottier, an engineer by profession who has never experienced unemployment in his life, responded oo. I realized by chance in January on the Canada Revenue Agency portal that there was T4E, he wrote. Service Canada told me they had noticed fraudulent activity, blocked further payments and [étaient] correcting the situation.
The criminals ’request was made in August 2021, without their knowledge. Mr. Pottier is still awaiting a modified T4E, eight months after his identity was stolen. When filing his income tax return, he therefore has to enter amounts that he did not see.
” It is surprising and frustrating that, a few months after the fact, taxpayers have to advance the money for fraud and suffer administrative inconveniences. “
Service Canada indicates that citizens who suspect improper activity on their social insurance number that does not result from their own actions should report it to Service Canada as soon as possible.
From change done
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 questioning Thursday in the House of Commons, in response to the Bloc Québécois, the federal Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Karina Gould, underlined that aware that there is an increase in cases of fraud.
Changes have been made to Service Canada to ensure that people with legitimate claims receive their benefitshe added.
So far, Service Canada has not told us how many files have been compromised and is still being reviewed.
Source: Radio-Canada
