New ID Verification Tool for Unemployment Insurance

Morristown Minute

The NJ Department of Labor is launching an enhanced identity verification tool for Unemployment Insurance to reduce fraudulent claims.

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Millions of legitimate unemployment claimants across the country face major delays in receiving their benefits or have missed out on receiving any benefits at all due to identity fraud and theft.

Since the start of the pandemic, the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development has identified 260,000 fraudulent claims and prevented more than $2 billion in erroneous payments.

To combat the growing problem of identity theft, the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development has contracted with security vendor ID.me to provide a self-service, multi-factor identity verification application that authenticates a claimant's identity in a more efficient manner.

“Our number-one priority is, and always has been, getting claimants the benefits they deserve as quickly as possible, and ID.me is yet another valuable improvement we’ve made to make this process faster and easier,” said Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo. “Contracting with this nationally recognized service allows our agents to focus more time on processing complex claims, so it’s a win for all our claimants, even those not affected by fraud.”

If needed, unemployment claimants will be contacted by the NJDOL and instructed to verify their identity through ID.me. A claimant should not submit their identifying information to ID.me unless requested to do so by the NJDOL.

The process can be completed in a few minutes using a computer or mobile phone and common pieces of documentation. Users also can complete the process via a live video conference.

The ID.me service is available in several languages. New Jersey joins several other states in using ID.me, a credentialed federal service provider adhering to the National Institute of Standards and Technology Digital Identity Guidelines.

Click here to learn more about Verifying your Identity for Unemployment Insurance Claims.

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