In December, the California Employment Development Department (EDD) detected a disability insurance identity theft scam that involved suspected organized criminal elements filing false disability insurance claims by attempting to use stolen credentials of medical or health providers. Last week, EDD confirmed that approximately 98 percent of the 27,000 medical provider accounts it initially flagged as suspicious were likely fraudulent.
EDD upgraded its AskEDD website tool to make the fraud reporting process easier to use. This includes custom fraud reporting for medical providers who suspect someone may be using their credentials to attempt to certify fake disability insurance claims.