How to report unemployment insurance fraud

Unemployment insurance is paid for with taxes and employer contributions, and the Employment Security Bureau keeps a channel for reporting when someone collects benefits without being entitled to them. The DTRH frames the purpose directly: ensuring that money is spent prudently and that benefits are paid only to those who are eligible. It is not a proceeding against you and does not make you part of a case: it is a report the agency investigates.

Anyone can file a complaint. The DTRH is explicit that you do not have to give your name or any other personally identifying information, and that remaining anonymous is the reporter’s right. The honest trade-off is that without a way to reach you, the agency cannot ask for additional detail if its investigation needs it, so what you write in the complaint matters more if you choose anonymity.

• The name and address of the person or business suspected of committing the fraud.Verified against the official source
• If the complaint concerns an individual: where applicable, that person’s social security number and the name of the company where they have been employed in the past year.Verified against the official source
• A detailed description of the complaint and, if possible, the dates.Verified against the official source
• Selecting the type of report you wish to make, from the categories the DTRH offers.Verified against the official source

• You do not have to identify yourself: the DTRH publishes that you do not need to give your name or any personally identifying information to file the complaint.

1. 1

   Step 1: Decide whether to give your name

   This comes first and it is your decision, not a requirement. The DTRH publishes that you do not need to give your name or any personally identifying information, and that remaining anonymous is your right. The only thing you lose is their ability to call you if they need more detail, so if you choose anonymity, compensate by writing the complaint in more detail.

2. 2

   Step 2: Gather what is actually needed

   The name and address of the person or business. If it concerns an individual, their social security number if you have it and the name of the company where they worked in the past year. That last detail is what allows the information to be cross-checked against reported wages, which is why the DTRH asks for it expressly.

3. 3

   Step 3: Describe the facts with dates

   The DTRH asks you to describe the complaint in detail and give dates if possible. A useful report says what was done, since when and how you know. One that only says someone "is collecting without working" leaves the agency with nothing to verify.

4. 4

   Step 4: Choose the type of report

   The DTRH form asks you to select the type, and one of the categories it offers is a person who is working and claiming unemployment benefits at the same time. Choosing the right category points the investigation in the right direction from the start.

With the Employment Security Bureau of the Department of Labor and Human Resources, through its unemployment insurance fraud reporting page.

• Not reporting because you believe you must give your name, when the DTRH says expressly that you do not.
• Filing a complaint with no dates or detail, which leaves the agency nothing to verify.
• Omitting the name of the company where the person worked in the past year, which is what enables the cross-check.
• Choosing anonymity and still writing little: with no contact, what you wrote is all there is.
• Confusing this report with the procedure for claiming unemployment.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento del Trabajo y Recursos Humanos (DTRH)

  Departamento del Trabajo

  www.trabajo.pr.gov

• Department of Labor and Human Resources

  DTRH

  www.trabajo.pr.gov