Department of Workforce Development: Participating in National Integrity Data hub to Detect and Prevent UI Fraud

Building on its multifaceted, modernized approach to detect and prevent fraud, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) is now participating in the National Association of State Workforce Agencies’ Integrity Data Hub, which provides states with cross-matching verification options for identifying potential unemployment insurance (UI) fraud and improper payments.

Data from the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) shows that the integrity data hub has assisted with the prevention of $2.4 billion in improper payments in the states and territories where it is utilized through June 2022.

“Combating UI fraud is a top priority,” DWD Secretary-designee Amy Pechacek said. “These additional tools available through NASWA’s Integrity Data Hub will give our UI staff more options in the fight against fraud, helping to protect the integrity of the UI program and ensuring that benefits remain available to individuals who are out of work through no fault of their own.”

The additional fraud identification tools available through the data hub include:

  • The Suspicious Actor Repository (SAR), which allows states to compare UI claims against a list of suspicious claims from other states;
  • A database of suspicious email domains;
  • A database of foreign IP addresses;
  • Data analysis tools that allow states to compare claims to national data and conduct cross-state validation checks;
  • A multistate database of UI claims data;
  • A centralized identity verification service;
  • The Fraud Alert System, which allows states to share information about new fraud schemes; and,
  • Bank account verification, which enables states to validate bank account ownership and status.

These modernized tools add to DWD’s existing fraud prevention and detection technology, which includes the wage records cross-match, state and national new hire cross-matches, work search audits, interstate cross-match, deceased citizen cross-match, and many others.