Humana employee identities have been used to file fraudulent unemployment insurance applications with the health care company, according to company officials.
Humana’s corporate communications chief Mark Mathis told News 6 the company is gathering information from employees who file unemployment fraud incidents.
“That information is kept secure,” Mathis said. “Like many other employers, Humana has seen a rise in false unemployment filings involving its employees. However, we do not have specific numbers to share.”
Maureen Wilkinson, an employee in Humana’s Orlando office, has served as a registered nurse and utilization manager with the company for the past 12 years.
Wilkinson said she was not aware her identity had been breached but quickly froze her credit cards and bank accounts when the HR department called to ask if she had filed for benefits.
“I mean there [are] people out there that actually are eligible and need the money,” Wilkinson said, “I’m getting the money and I never asked for it.”
Wilkinson received a benefits check from the Department of Unemployment Opportunity as well as a debit card used when unemployed applicants do not have a bank account for direct deposit of benefits.
Humana told News 6 there is no evidence of an employee data breach but that fraudulent filings are increasing.
Security experts told News 6 the employee names and personal information could have been accessed individually and sold in packets on the dark web.
Chris Hadnagy aka the Human Hacker said the amount of money involved delivers a major “payday” for cyber-thieves who access hijacked personal information.
“This kind of data becomes super-valuable,” Hadnagy said, “Because this is all you need for identity theft. "
Hadnagy, founder of Social Engineer LLC and author of the book “Human Hacking” said thieves are aggressive because of the large amounts of state and federal unemployment benefits being issued in the wake of the pandemic.
“There needs to be more regulation and stricter compliance,” Hadnagy told News 6.
If you suspect your name has been used for a fraudulent unemployment filing go to this link.
If you have an unemployment issue go to makendsmeet@wkmg.com