After an NBC 6 Investigation reported a data breach among Miami-Dade County workers last week, officials have started notifying employees about what they called a massive data breach that’s putting the identities of the workers at risk.
Sources told the Team 6 investigators the data breach affected the identities and personal information of hundreds of government workers. Whoever is responsible for the breach is using the information to file fake unemployment claims and even open up credit cards.
No officials are talking publicly about the data breach saying it could “jeopardize” the federal investigation. But, officials sent out an email to all workers obtained by Team 6 investigators Wednesday that said, “We assure you that fraudulent claims are being taken very seriously and every effort is being made to identify and refer the cases to the proper authorities for appropriate action.”
Miami-Dade Police are working in conjunction with federal investigators to determine how the breach happened and exactly how many workers have been impacted. Police said other counties may be affected by the breach as well.
Below is the text of the e-mail sent by the Miami-Dade County Human Resources Director to all county employees:
The recent news report on a “Data Breech” has understandably raised concerns amongst our employees regarding their personal information and whether they are one of the employees impacted by identity theft. Please be advised that when we identify a possible fraudulent unemployment claim, we immediately notify the Departmental Personnel Representative (DPR) for that employee. Our procedures are as follows:
The Human Resources Department receives the Notices of Reemployment Assistance once a claim for unemployment has been filed with the Department of Employment Opportunity (DEO). If a claim is identified as fraudulent (once HR confirms the employee is an active employee) HR contacts the employee’s DPR to provide notice to the Department and notification is immediately sent to the Department of Unemployment indicating that it is a fraudulent claim.
If an employee is notified that a fraudulent claim has been filed on their behalf, the employee should be instructed to do the following:
- Contact the Unemployment Fraud Hotline to report the fraud at (800) 342-9909. They should report that their identity (SS#, Name) is being used to commit Unemployment Fraud.
- Make a note of the Master Case File # that has been assigned by the Miami-Dade Police Department:PD130322106429.
- File an Identity Theft Affidavit (IRS Form 14039), found at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f14039.pdf
- Notify their banking institutions
- Make routine checks on their bank accounts
- Conduct thorough reviews on their bank and credit card statements
- Visit http://myfloridalegal.com/identitytheft to learn more about Identity Theft
We assure you that fraudulent claims are being taken very seriously and every effort is being made to identify and refer these cases to the proper authorities for appropriate action.
