Nick Reisman is reporting for State of Politics the state of New York is cracking down on unemployment fraud. Two million jobs were lost statewide when the pandemic hit last year, causing workers to join the unemployment line. As millions of dollars in jobless benefits were distributed, some of the money landed in the pockets of scammers. "Every state has a little bit of fraud in good years, people working while collecting that sort of thing," Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said. "This is really international cybercriminals." The Department of Labor has fortified its special investigations unit and earlier this year the state began using ID [dot] me, a new tool to fight cybercrime. Used by other states, the company verifies jobless claims and it has helped to cut down on fraud. Reardon said the tool, "...has really been a game-changer for us." She said some fraudsters have taken to wearing masks in an attempt to look like the person they are filing for. "This is how sophisticated they are getting. But it doesn't work," Reardon said. She advises New Yorkers to monitor their mail, and immediately report to the Labor Department's fraud website if they receive letters about benefits they did not apply for. "We need know if somebody filed in your name and it's fraudulent and we take it from there," Reardon said. The commissioner said it very important that people understand that the information used by the scammers did not come from the state. The state systems have not been hacked, she said. Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.