Erie County District Attorney John Flynn announces that he was recently the victim of a scammer who attempted to fraudulently file an unemployment claim using his personal information. DA Flynn became aware of the incident after receiving a notice in the mail regarding a claim for one week of unemployment in early February 2021. Flynn, who has been working throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, took immediate action by contacting his employer, Erie County, and the New York State Department of Labor (NYS DOL).

“I want the public to know that anyone, even the county’s chief law enforcement official, can become a target of this scam. Since these claims are filed online, it is very difficult to identify and prosecute these criminals. I encourage anyone who has had false information filed in their name to contact the New York State Department of Labor immediately. I also want to commend their office for identifying these fraudulent claims,” said Erie County District Attorney John Flynn.

The NYS DOL issued an advisory last month, announcing that their office has identified more than 425,000 fraudulent claims since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.