IDES Fraud Claims Up 1,400% From 2019

Fraudulent unemployment claims in Illinois have soared as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. The state Department of Employment Security has released data showing there were just 13-thousand claims for all of 2019, compared to nearly 187-thousand from January to October of this year. That means a rise of about one-thousand-438-percent. Residents and lawmakers say the department is doing a bad job of communicating about fraud, especially as incidents worsen.