Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted this week reported that they both recently received notices of unemployment claims made in their names — further proof that unemployment insurance (UI) fraud is widespread. According to the lieutenant governor, 44,000 traditional unemployment claims of 1.7 million were flagged for potential fraud, while 796,000 of 1.4 million claims under the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program were flagged. This at a time when Ohio’s employer-funded UI trust fund is deeply in the red. To help address the problem, Ohioans are asked to report instances of UI fraud. For other UI-related concerns and COVID-19 issues, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services has created an employer resource hub. Meanwhile, Ohio this week started issuing new weekly $300 federal PUA payments, authorized by the federal COVID-19 package passed in late December. 1/21/2021