July 30, 2020 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
©
Shelton Mason County Journal. All rights reserved. Upgrade to access Premium Tools
PAGE 4 (4 of 40 available) PREVIOUS NEXT Jumbo Image Save To Scrapbook Set Notifiers PDF JPG
July 30, 2020 |
|
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader ![]() |
Page Av4 Shelton-Mason County Journal Thursday, July 30, 2020
i M l l
THESE TIMES
Local man has identity issues
omeone typing on a keyboard
S somewhere in this wide, won-
derful world made a costly
error this spring while entering
the identifying and purloined in-,
formation belonging to one Bob
Wilkerson, Mason County
resident.
Wilkerson, who lives
south of Shelton near Fawn
Lake, would soon learn he
had become a bit player in
a far-flung scam. It was a
can that skimmed millions
of dollars earmarked for
newly unemployed Wash-
ington residents who were
of joblessness caused by
COVID-19. It was such a
monumental amount of fraud that
the state agency in charge of those
benefits has yet — more than two
months later — to release a full ac-
count of the damage done. In fact,
the agency still is trying to catch
up with the many legitimate job—
less claims that have yet to be pro—
cessed.
The fraudsters took advantage
of the state Employment Security
Department being overwhelmed
by, and being unable to thoroughly.
check, the hundreds of thousands of
jobless claims that flooded its com-
puters in early spring. Washington
lost 500,000 jobs in April, according
to the agency. That cache of money
for the unemployed had become
especially enticing because of the
extra $600 per week added by the
federal government to the weekly
checks.
According to Agari, a website
that reports on email security mat-
ters, Washington was one of several
states, including Florida, Massa-
chusetts and Wyoming, targeted
by the con squad. The US Secret
Service released abulletin May 14,
calling it a “well-organized Nigerian
fraud ring.”
“The primary state targeted so
far is Washington,” according to
the Secret Service bulletin, which
added that “individuals residing out
of state are receiving multiple de—
posits from the state of Washington
unemployment benefits program,
all in different individual’s names
with no connection to the account
holder.” 1
Washington likely contributed to
being the primary target because it
hurried to get money into the hands
of the newly jobless. Our state, es-
sentially, was the first target to
poke its head over the battle trench.
Wilkerson’s information —- in-
sultinanammntg iionmnl
By KIRK
dealing with the first crush ERICSON
eluding name, birth date and Social
Security number and the infor-
mation of millions of others who
had their identities stolen in earlier
security breaches was being put
into play across multiple jurisdic-
tions.
That someone operating
from who—knows-where cre-
ated a claim in Wilkerson’s
name for jobless benefits
this spring. On May 9,
Wilkerson received a letter
from the state employment
agency telling him a prob-
lem existed with a jobless
claim that been opened in
his name.
Wilkerson could be
certain the claim was thor-
oughly bogus because he was inten-
tionally without employment at the
time — he had retired in 2018 after
33 years at The Boeing 00., where
he worked as a manufacturing en-
gineer. ‘
After he registered the bogus
claim on the agency’s website, he
received another letter two days ,
later stating that the person open-
ing the claim had requested direct
deposit, but failed to get the bank
account information correct.
“It was denied because there was '
something wrong with the routing
information for the automatic de-
posit,” he said.
Did somebody forget to double-
check their work?
Thus began several weeks of
work and worry to disentangle his
name from the grip of a government
bureaucracy, a bureaucracy where
you can’t just show up in an office
space, make a loud proclamation
that you are who you say you are
and expect the matter to end. So
Wilkerson got active. .
“I called the sheriff’s department
and filed an incident report,” he
said. “I contacted the three main
credit bureaus to put a freeze on my
accounts, and for my wife’s. I also
filed a complaint with the Federal
Trade Commission.”
He sent multiple emails, made
multiple calls and left multiple
voice mails on agency phones. He
froze their credit reports, set up
alert notifications for himself and
his wife, and contacted one of his.
state representatives and the Gov-
ernor’s Office. '
“One day I made 30 calls, the
next day I made 150. Cellphone has
redial so it made it easy,” he said.
Wilkerson estimated he spent 12
see TIIl/IES, page A—5
EDITORIAL
Do the right thing —-+ vote
ith coronavirus affecting every
component of our lives, it’s
easy to lose track of all of our
important responsibilities. They’ve all
' taken a-backseat to staying safe, wear-
ing our masks and practicing social
distancing.
Well, here’s one more duty we hope
you remember to check off your list this
week — voting in the Aug. 4 primary
election. '
You probably received your ballot a
couple weeks ago. It might still be sit-
ting on your countertop or dining room
table. Maybe you tossed it in a to-do
pile. It could still be there. ‘
Consider this a friendly reminder
— fill it out, drop it in the mail or a
county drop box, and rest easy knowing
that you did your part in our demo-
cratic society.
We know all of your excuses; it takes
too much work to research the candi-
dates; you don’t have time; you don’t
have a stamp; or you’ll just vote in the
general election where it matters more.
We’re not buying them.
Sure, the ballot has a lot to digest.
Depending on where you live, you might
have local fire district levy proposals, a
Board of County Commissioner race and
a mix of state and federal offices on your
ballot. It’s a lot of names, many of which
you may not know.
But it’s really easy to learn about
your federal, state and local candidates
— go to the Secretary of State’s website
at sos.wa.gov or the county’s elections
website at www.masOncountyelections.
us. If you don’t have access to the inter-
net, reach out to the county auditor’s
elections office. It can be reached at
360-427-9670, ext. 470.
All it takes is a moment to do a bit
of research, and you’ll have done your
part to ensure that your tax dollars are I
spent the way you want. It also gives
you a chance to vote fer candidates
whose values you agree with —— the
top two candidates in a contested race
move on to the Nov. 3 general election.
If only one ortwo candidates are on the
ballot for a position, both will move on
to the next ballot.
But just because you’ll have a fi-
nal say in November doesn’t mean
you should ignore the ballot you have
buried under your bills and mortgage
statements.
The kicker is this '— you don’t even
have to find a stamp. Return envelopes
are prepaid, so just take it to your
mailbox or drop it off at one of six 24-
hour drop boxes. Call the auditor’s of—
fice for a location near you.
We know you have plenty to keep'
you busy right now —, you might be
staying home with your children or
grandchildren and trying to work full
time. You might have been laid off, or
have ailments that take up your time
and energy.
But voting shouldn’t take a back
seat take a few minutes and do the
right thing. N o matter who you vote
for, just vote.
IT‘S BEST WHEN
THOSE BEING TAXED
MAKE THE RULES.
All regular editorial, advertising
_ and legal deadlines are 5 pm. the
Monday prior to publication.
Front office:
D'ave Pierik, office administrator
The Shelton-Mason County Jour- Publisher: Tom Mullen
nal is a member of the wash—
ington Newspaper Publishers
USPS 492-800
POST MASTER: send address changes to Shelton-Mason Advertising:
County Journal, 90. Box 430, Shanon. WA 93534, Association. John Lester,
general manager Delivery:
' Theresa Murray, ad representative Jon Garza To submit a letter to the
editor,
SUBSCRIPTION RATES: David Olson email adam@masoncounty.com.
Published weekly by the Shelton-Mason County Journal
at 227 W. Cota St, Shelton, Washington.
Mailing address: PO. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584
Telephone: 360-426-4412
Website: www.masoncounty.com
Periodicals postage paid in Shelton, Washington.
Newsroom: Niel Challstrom
Adam Rudnick, editor in chief
Gordon Weeks, reporter
Justin Johnson, sports/outdoors editor
lsabella Breda, reporter
Kirk Ericson, columnist/ proofreader
Lloyd Mullen, creative director
$62 per year ($43 for six months)
for Mason County addreSSes and
$75 per year ($55 for six months)
outside of Mason County.
Composing room:
William Adams, advertising and
technical support
Owned and published by
SheltonoMason County Journal, lnc.