Pennsylvania now requires individuals filing for unemployment compensation to prove their identity before receiving payments. In an effort to prevent fraudulent claims which have plagued the online unemployment system, Pennsylvania has hired ID.me, a McLean, Virginia-based company, to authenticate users. Since 2020, some 27 states have hired ID.me for unemployment verification, including Pennsylvania, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming. “We are also now under contract with an additional two states. ID.me Spokesman Nicholas Michael told The Epoch Times. “Our federal partners include the Department of Veterans Affairs and Social Security Administration.” Unemployment applicants in these states must submit to a new, more invasive level of vetting to receive payments. ID.me’s online authentication process begins with a request for permission to use details from the user’s credit …