Accounting Firm Plagued by Phantom Employees

A CPA firm in West Palm Beach has been fielding calls from unemployed people all over Florida who have been informed by the state that they no longer qualify for unemployment benefits because they were hired by the firm, even though they weren’t.

C.R. Cooper, CPA, has received at least 11 calls from people who received such a letter from the state, according to the New Times Broward-Palm Beach. But the firm has not hired any employees in a year and believes there may be a payroll scam going on.

“They were never employed by us,” administrative assistant Lynn York told WebCPA. “People called with the names, and we don’t know who they are.”

The Florida Department of Children and Families contacted the firm at one point to verify the identity of one of the phantom employees, but the firm had never heard of them. “We don’t know where they got our name,” said York.