KCRA 3 viewers who believe they have been victims of disability-related fraud are asking for help.

“Why would EDD contact me? Pete Cameron rhetorically asked KCRA 3 Investigates.

Cameron showed our team the letters mailed to him regarding disability insurance.

“Inside, I have a few examples here where it looks like I’ve applied for disability insurance, but I’m presenting myself as the employer,” Cameron said.

The letters are from the California Department of Employment Development.

“I received the first letter, then I turned around three days later and received a letter which is exactly the same and the only difference is in the case numbers, the last two digits of the case numbers are different, ”Cameron said.

Cameron has confirmed to KCRA 3 Investigations that he is not disabled, not unemployed, and that he has not filed a disability claim. The Sacramento County man believes he is the latest victim in a new wave of attempted fraud.

A Press release sent by EDD on Dec. 14, warned people about criminals filing bogus claims for disability insurance. Today, EDD is tackling this new disability fraud in addition to finding a way to fix the $ 20 billion of widespread fraud involving state unemployment benefits.

“Every time something happens, people try to find a new way to do these things,” Cameron said. “Criminals only have time.”

Assembly member Jim Cooper (D) Elk Grove said all the fraud was “crippling our system”.

“It’s a white collar crime,” Cooper said. “As far as the sentences go, they’re a lot lighter. So you see the whole wave of people heading over to that, entering someone’s number, social security and information to make a disability claim. So right now it’s rampant. “

To crack down on fraud, Assembly Member Cooper told KCRA 3 Investigates it would require resources for law enforcement, funding for investigations and tougher penalties for perpetrators.

“A lot of our laws have been – I don’t mean dumbfounded, but the improvements have been lowered for a lot of these things, a lot of thefts. That’s why a lot of people feel emboldened to go ahead and do it. because there’s no accountability, and they know they won’t get much trouble. And they really aren’t. No one is sent to jail anymore. They are sent to prison. county jail, if that. So they know the system is right now, is in some ways broken. “

Cooper said, “There have been a lot of reforms and good reforms,” but at the same time, no one has been held accountable.

“The whole EDD debacle, no one was held responsible. The former director resigned. So at some point, someone has to be held accountable and really made an example.”

He fears that people who really need disability insurance won’t be able to get it.

“We saw it with EDD where people were applying who really needed the money, they got stuck in the system and it took months to get their money,” Cooper said. “So I see the same thing happening if that doesn’t happen right now. And EDD, I mean, they finally stepped up but took a long time. But am I optimistic?

In an email to KCRA 3, EDD said he could not comment on Cameron’s specific case due to confidentiality, but said his investigators were working with law enforcement on the matter.

Due to privacy laws governing benefit programs, we cannot comment on any specific individual or potential claim. We issued a press release on this issue on December 14th. This provides you with good insight into the identity theft scam we detected against EDD and Californians using stolen personal identity information. Thanks to our constant monitoring, we were able to take swift action to minimize the impact.

Please note that our investigators work with local, state and federal partners to expose identity theft scams, quickly improve methods to stop and prevent fraudulent claims associated with identity theft, and prosecute unscrupulous violators. to the fullest extent of the law. EDD has updated information on our website Help in the fight against fraud page to help those who receive EDD documents but have not applied for Disability Insurance (DI) benefits or registered as a medical provider on our online DI system, as well as how to avoid scams. These letters are part of our workplace fraud detection efforts so that we can alert people if anyone appears to be using their stolen personal identity information for the purposes of fraudulent AI claims. There is also an FAQ section specific to the DI impersonation scam on the webpage.

We have continued to alert Californians to aggressive scammers at work during this pandemic, as you see in our most recent example – a press release of December 8. We encourage Californians to remain vigilant and protect financial and personal information to help prevent fraud, including identity theft.

Thank you,

EDD Media Services