Furloughed Rutgers employees' identities stolen

When more than a score of Rutgers employees in the university's library system and Graduate School of Education filed for unemployment this summer after they had been furloughed, they were met with a surprise.

They had already filed.

The employees discovered that fraudulent claims already had been filed a month before with their Social Security numbers.

An investigation by the state Department of Labor into the fraudulent claims delayed employees’ unemployment checks, a union representative said.

Rutgers notified the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development about the breach, said university spokeswoman Dory Devlin, adding that no university data has been compromised.

READ: Rutgers’ fiscal emergency is of its own making, unions leaders say

But Rutgers needs to do more, Rutgers Administrators-American Federation of Teachers President Christine O’Connell said, to prevent more of the union members’ identities from being stolen.

“For those who desperately need unemployment because they were furloughed, the university could actively do things,” O’Connell said. “To choose to do nothing is the insult on top of the injury.”

At one time, the university's Human Resources Department had an Identity Theft 911 site administered by CyberScout, an online security firmed founded by Adam K. Levin, a former director of the state Division of Consumer Affairs.

The university no longer has a contract with CyberScout, Devlin said. The university would not comment on why the contract was terminated but is looking into similar assistance programs, she said.

Among the employees affected was Jennifer Reiber, a library associate of the university’s Paul Robeson Library in Camden.  

Reiber said she was disappointed that Rutgers hasn’t offered her and her colleagues more help.

READ: Rutgers aiming for spring return to campuses, President Jonathan Holloway says

“I found out that a fraudulent unemployment claim was filed in my name by my supervisor, and that is the only thing that the university did for me,” Reiber said. “I wasn't offered any other help or suggestions on how to protect myself. I was advised that human resources reported the claim as fraudulent. I had to then file a police report with my local police department and with the government.

“The best advice on how to proceed came from a personal friend of mine outside of the university who had this happen to him in the past,” she continued. “I am checking my credit report weekly and have to verify with my bank every time I purchase an item online."

No one knows who the identity thief is, but they could strike again, she said.

“My fear is that it’s some 12-year-old somewhere who has peoples’ info waiting to act on it,” O’Connell said. “I just wish Rutgers would send a message to the entire university community to watch out for any unusual activity. They have not done that. They won’t take any responsibility for it. We asked them to reinstitute the identify theft program, and they have not done that. We asked them to provide protections to those already impacted, and they have not done that.

Email: bmakin@gannettnj.com

Bob Makin covers Rutgers for MyCentralJersey.com and the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey. To get unlimited access to his informative and entertaining work, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.