Reporting Fraud

The Texas Workforce Commission is authorized by the Texas Labor Code to investigate allegations of fraud, waste and program abuse involving TWC programs.

Fraud is a willful act or course of deception, or an intentional concealment, omission, or perversion of truth, with the intent to obtain a material benefit or service for that person or another person, for which the person may not be eligible. 

Waste is any practice that a reasonably prudent person would deem careless or that would allow inefficient use of resources, items or services. Waste includes incurring unnecessary costs because of inefficient or ineffective practices, systems, or controls.

Abuse is the intentional, wrongful or improper use or destruction of state resources, or a seriously improper practice that does not involve prosecutable fraud.  Abuse may include misapplication or misuse of public resources.

Theft is the unlawful appropriation of property with the intent to deprive the owner of that property.

Reportable violations include, but are not limited to, the following examples:

• Obtaining unemployment insurance benefits by misrepresentation
• Obtaining child care benefits by misrepresentation
• Improper tax avoidance by nondisclosure or misrepresentation of facts
• Authorizing an improper claim for others
• Authorizing ineligible participation in TWC programs
• Authorizing payments to ineligible claimants/clients
• Accessing agency information (e.g., wage records) for non-business reasons.
• Conflict of interest issues
• Extorting money or accepting favors from contractors, clients, or vendors
• Failing to follow applicable rules, regulations, policies, procedures, and laws
• Improperly disclosing information
• Misusing State-owned property (computers, equipment, telephones, etc.)
• Nondisclosure of material facts
• Overstating travel expense reimbursement claims
• Receiving kickbacks from contractors, clients, or vendors
• Using State supplies for personal use
• Using State telephone lines for personal calls to avoid long distance charges
• Using unauthorized computer programs on State-owned computers
• Installation of State-owned computer software on home computers
• Violating contract or grant procedures
• Falsifying financial records to conceal theft of money or property
• Intentionally misrepresenting the costs of goods or services provided

The Commission may refer investigative results to the appropriate district or county attorney. The Commission may also provide this information to the United States Department of Labor and the United States Department of Justice or other federal or state agencies.

Any documents you provide to the Commission, including emails and faxes, as well as any information transcribed by Commission staff based on verbal communication with you, become part of official agency records upon receipt by the Commission (Government Code 441, V.T.C.A. and the Texas Workforce Records Retention Schedule approved by the State Library and Archives Commission on January 4, 2002, as amended, as well as the Public Information Act, Government Code, Chapter 552, V.T.C.A.) These records cannot be altered or destroyed (Texas Penal Code, Chapter 37, V.T.C.A.), except as permitted by the Commission's Records Retention Schedule.

Victims of identity theft are advised to take the following actions:

1. Contact the Police department in the city in which you reside and get an incident report and number. 
2. Consult the Federal Trade Commission website (checklist of further actions is available on this site)
3. Contact one of the three credit reporting agencies listed below, and:
   1. Ask that a free fraud alert be placed on your credit report.
   2. Ask for a free credit report (you only need to contact one of the three agencies because the law requires the agency to call to contact the other two.)
   3. If needed, ask to have your credit account frozen.
      • Equifax - 800-349-9960
      • Experian - 888-397-3742
      • TransUnion - 888-909-8872
4. If bank or credit union account was compromised, contact the fraud department of each institution. Report the identity theft and, if needed, ask them to close or freeze the compromised account. 

If you are claiming unemployment benefits, please go to ID.me to verify your identity. (https://hosted-pages.id.me/texas-twc-identity-proofing)

If you are not claiming unemployment benefits, please report the fraudulent claim on the UI Fraud Submission portal (English), or UI Fraud Submission portal (Spanish).