In the wake of reports of fraudulent unemployment claims filed on behalf of unwitting Ohioans, the state’s chief law enforcement officer last week sought federal protection from Congress.

Attorney General Dave Yost said the scam may have affected hundreds of thousands of workers across the state — Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. John Husted included in their ranks, according to published accounts.

Yost asked Congress to protect working Ohioans who may have had fraudulent unemployment claims filed in their names, shielding them from having to pay taxes on benefits they never received.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services is expected to send 1.7 million 1099-G forms this month to those who the agency has record of receiving unemployment benefits. A spokesman for the agency said it is anticipated, however, that a significant number of the 1099-Gs likely will go to Ohioans who neither filed for nor received unemployment assistance.

The total number of victims was unclear last week.

“Construction workers, daycare providers, service industry workers — the backbone of this state — have worked hard throughout the pandemic and now the government is going to ask them to pay taxes on money they didn’t receive — it’s just not right.” Yost said.

Reports of other states facing similar problems with fraudulent claims prompted Yost to turn to Congress, a press release detailed. He said he believes there’s enough evidence of fraud to notify the state’s congressional delegation that it should suspend tax collection efforts and pause fees or interest from taxes owed on the claims until they are investigated.

Yost notified members of the delegation late last week, asking Congress specifically to consider excluding the amount from the income for the taxpayer in the given year until a final determination is made by the state unemployment compensation administrator that the amount is valid.

Once an amount is determined to be valid, the IRS may then apply the amount to the tax year in which it was determined to be valid without any penalties or interest.

Yost said that if an amount certified to the IRS is determined to be invalid, the unemployment compensation administrator will indicate to the IRS that the 1099-G was issued in error, and assist the taxpayer with any correction the taxpayer is required to make to modify the reported income to the IRS.

He asked that any incidents of identity theft regarding unemployment benefits be reported to Job and Family Services. The attorney general’s office has provided a link — https://unemploymenthelp.ohio.gov/ —for Ohioans who need to report such activity.

Yost said the state agency is expected to determine if fraud has occurred.