City of Apopka warns employees after bogus unemployment claims filed in their names

APOPKA, Fla. — The City of Apopka is warning employees after it learned someone was trying to file bogus unemployment claims in their names.

Several employees who never filed for the benefits may have been victims of a data breach at the state unemployment office.

It’s not just Apopka city employees affected, either.

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Restaurant manager Jessica Bauer said she has been trying to reach the state unemployment office since her boss told her that someone filed an unemployment claim using her name.

“Somebody’s filed unemployment in your maiden name,” Bauer said

According to Bauer, someone had all of her information from the restaurant where she’s worked for the past six years.

“They even had the date that I started almost exact; not exact, it was off by six days,” she said.

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In an email sent to employees this week the city of Apopka, employees were alerted that personal information such as driver’s licenses may have been accessed in a January breach of the state unemployment system.

In the letter, the city said it became aware of the incident when certain employees were notified that they filed for benefits.

The city manager told WFTV the city is working with the Department of Economic Opportunity to sort it all out, but wanted to make sure employees were given all the information possible.

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The DEO has yet to respond to questions about the data breach, or just how large the breach may be.

Bauer says she wonders if that same data breach is behind her case, but hasn’t been able to speak to anyone at the DEO.

“I can’t talk to someone not to get paid because I’m not even sure they’re getting paid for me, it’s just really frustrating,” she said.

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