Report 2020-628.2 Recommendation 2 Responses

Report 2020-628.2: Employment Development Department: Significant Weaknesses in EDD's Approach to Fraud Prevention Have Led to Billions of Dollars in Improper Benefit Payments (Release Date: January 2021)

Recommendation #2 To: Employment Development Department

To prepare to respond to victims of identity theft who receive incorrect tax forms, EDD should, by mid-February 2021, provide information on its website and set up a separate email box for such individuals to contact EDD and receive prompt resolution.

In summary, the CSA recommended the EDD provide information on the website and establish a separate email for victims of identity theft who receive incorrect tax forms. The EDD updated the Ask EDD electronic communication functionality to include an "Identity Theft" topic and added additional information to the EDD public website.

Please see the following for details:

The Ask EDD electronic communication channel for the Form 1099G category now includes the following topic:

- Report Fraud - Form 1099G Identity Theft

Individuals can report Identity Theft as a result of the receipt of Form 1099G via Ask EDD, which provides an opportunity to email the Department details surrounding their issue. This electronic response is routed to IAD for review and processing. Additionally, the EDD website has a "Your 1099G Tax Form" link on the main EDD webpage:

Once on this page, a highlighted statement provides the Contact Center phone number and the Ask EDD link.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Status: Fully Implemented

EDD provided information on its website and created a specific topic for individuals to report to EDD that they may be victims of identity theft because they received incorrect tax forms. EDD must continue to provide appropriate assistance to individuals who contact it regarding identity theft in the coming months. Doing so will be essential to maintaining full implementation of our recommendation.

All Recommendations in 2020-628.2

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.