Oklahoma Employment Security Commission launches VerifyOK
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission officially launched VerifyOK on Tuesday.
OESC begun creating the first version of VerifyOK in 2020 to help the agency limit the increase in fraud experienced during the pandemic. Since then, OESC's IT teams have developed a customized tool built from the ground up to better aid the agency's needs.
“This launch is crucial to the agency’s efforts to fight fraudulent actors and protect the integrity of Oklahoma’s UI Trust Fund,” said Trae Rahill, OESC Executive Director. “We are so proud of the full team at OESC for all the hard work and collaboration to get VerifyOK officially launched for Oklahomans. This technology will allow the agency to safeguard services from fraud and ensure all benefits end up in the right hands.”
VerifyOK had a soft launch in mid-September as a way to test the system prior to Tuesday's statewide hard launch. OESC has already experienced success as multiple claimants have gone through the process of successfully deterring fraudulent activity.
Some of the new features in VerifyOK include:
- Individuals will now take a live capture of their face to ensure it matches their ID, instead of static "selfie” images.
- IDs will now be cross matched with all state DMVs, not just Oklahoma's.
- If the name on the account doesn't match the name on the ID, the account will be flagged for investigation.