KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Brooke Watson told 41 Action News she has received more than 70 letters from the Kansas Department of Labor this week.
Watson said she is not filing for unemployment and was worried about identity theft when she received the letters.
"I will not lie, my heart was jumping for sure," Watson said.
The letters all had Watson's address but were addressed to different people, none of which lived in the house before her.
Watson said she was able to speak with a representative from the fraud department who confirmed the letters are indeed due to fraud and contain some letters telling people their applications are being processed and some saying their applications were denied.
Watson said it was a relief to find out her address is the only information being used, but she worries about others who might not be so lucky.
"What I don't know is — all the names on these letters, have their identities been stolen? And are their socials being stolen, and then my address?" Watson said.
Watson said the representative told her the department is working to resolve the issue and she should let them know if the letters continue coming.
She said she wants to know how something like happens and how many other people it's happening to.
"As a taxpayer, I would really like to know the scope of this and the cost," Watson said. "Is there any kind of accountability to who really has to pay that bill? Because this is so much waste it's just unbelievable."
Watson said she posted about the letters on social media and had a friend reach out saying they were receiving similar letters.
41 Action News reached out to the Kansas Department of Labor to find out how widespread the issue is and what people receiving similar letters should do.
The department had not responded as of Friday afternoon.
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