Kansas Department of Labor website down due to fraudulent claims
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KANSAS CITY, Kansas (KCTV/KSMO) — The Kansas Department of Labor is deploying a new security system to fight unemployment insurance fraud.
KDOL’s system will be off line until Feb. 2. The Kansas Department of Labor announced a partnership with LexisNexis to deploy identity verification software for unemployment insurance accounts and claims.
“Since the start of the pandemic, the Kansas Department of Labor has been fighting two battles – processing a record number of unemployment claims with 40-year old IT systems and a record number of fraud,” said Governor Laura Kelly.
Once these security tools are deployed and are running, KDOL expects to see a decline or outright elimination of fraudulent benefit notices that individuals and businesses have been receiving from KDOL.
The system will also provide two-factor authentication so that claimants will be able to more securely log in and access their account.
In order to ensure unemployment benefit payments are not made on fraudulent claims, KDOL will hold payment of Regular Unemployment benefits until the new system is operational on February 2, 2021. Claimants will get any back pay owed as a result of the hold at that time.
Benefit payments to the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program will not be impacted by the upgrade, but claimants will have to verify their identity within the new system when it becomes operational.
Once the new identification verification system is brought back online, every claimant will be required to verify his or her identity by answering questions specific to the person’s credit history. Once an identity is verified, the system will prompt the claimant to setup two-factor authentication for her or his benefit account moving forward. This additional layer of security is an important factor in protecting KDOL unemployment.
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