EDD sent my daughter 1099G tax form but she never filed for unemployment - identity theft?
I'm freaking out a bit here. My daughter just received a 1099G tax form from EDD for 2023 showing almost $9,800 in unemployment benefits, but she NEVER applied for unemployment! She's been working at the same retail job since March 2023 (right after graduating college). This has to be identity theft, right? We're worried about tax implications and her credit score. Has anyone dealt with this before? I've tried calling EDD about 30 times over the past week but either get disconnected or told the queue is full. How do we report this fraud and make sure she doesn't get stuck paying taxes on benefits she never received?
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Micah Franklin
This is definitely identity theft. My brother went through the exact same thing last year. You need to: 1) Report it to EDD as fraud ASAP - https://edd.ca.gov/en/Fraud 2) Contact the IRS to let them know - they have a specific form for this 3) File a police report 4) Place a credit freeze with all three credit bureaus Trying to reach EDD directly is a nightmare these days, but I discovered Claimyr (claimyr.com) which got me through to an actual human at EDD in about 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10?si=TSwYbu_GOwYzt9km - it seriously saved me weeks of frustration when dealing with my brother's situation.
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Ruby Blake
•Thank you so much! I hadn't even thought about contacting the IRS or filing a police report. Do you know if we need to wait until we hear back from EDD before filing her taxes? I'm concerned about the deadline coming up.
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Ella Harper
the same thing hapned to my husband!!!11 he got a 1099g for like $13000 and never got any edd money. we called and called for WEEKS nobody answered. finally we drove to the actual edd office and they gave us some paperwork to fill out. still waiting to hear back its been 3 months
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PrinceJoe
•Did you try filing Form 14039 (Identity Theft Affidavit) with the IRS? That's an important step too because it puts a flag on the SSN that was compromised. EDD can take forever to resolve these issues, but the IRS side needs to be handled quickly.
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Brooklyn Knight
As someone who works in identity protection, I can help clarify this process: 1. This is definitely fraud - someone used your daughter's information to claim benefits 2. Don't expect a quick resolution from EDD - their fraud department is backlogged 3. Document EVERYTHING - keep copies of all correspondence 4. File IRS Form 14039 (Identity Theft Affidavit) immediately 5. Contact all three credit bureaus to place a fraud alert AND credit freeze 6. File a report at IdentityTheft.gov (FTC's official site) 7. File a police report for documentation purposes Most importantly, your daughter should still file taxes normally but do NOT include the fraudulent 1099-G income. Instead, attach an explanation letter and copies of your fraud reports. The IRS has procedures for handling this situation.
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Ruby Blake
•This is incredibly helpful information. I had no idea we could file taxes WITHOUT including the 1099G amount. That was my biggest worry. We'll start on all these steps tomorrow morning. Do you know if there's any way to find out WHO filed the fraudulent claim? I'm worried about what other information they might have access to.
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Owen Devar
my cousin works at edd and says this happens ALL THE TIME now. like 1000s of cases. the scammers got really good at it during covid and now they just keep doing it. your daughter should check ALL her accounts and change passwords everywhere!!!
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PrinceJoe
This is unfortunately common. In addition to the excellent advice already provided, I'd recommend contacting EDD's dedicated fraud reporting line at 1-800-229-6297 (though it's often busy). You should also submit their online fraud reporting form: https://askedd.edd.ca.gov/ For the tax side, specifically request a corrected 1099-G showing $0 benefits. This will make filing taxes much cleaner. While waiting for the corrected form, your daughter should file her taxes as normal, reporting only her actual income, and attach a statement explaining the fraudulent 1099-G. The IRS is well aware of this issue.
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Daniel Rivera
•I went through this last year and can confirm this advice is spot-on. Make sure you check the box for 'identity theft' when submitting the fraud report to EDD. Also important to know - it took almost 5 months for me to get the corrected 1099-G, but I filed my taxes normally with the explanation and never had an issue with the IRS.
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Sophie Footman
Thats so scary!! Did ur daughter get any letters from edd before the 1099?? Im worried this might happen to me now
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Ruby Blake
•No, that's what's so weird! The 1099G was literally the first communication she got from them. She never received ANY letters before this. Check your mail carefully and maybe sign up for USPS informed delivery so you can see what mail is coming before it arrives.
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Micah Franklin
This happened to my mom too! After weeks of trying the regular EDD phone numbers, I finally tried Claimyr and got through to a rep who was actually helpful. They filed the fraud report for us over the phone and explained exactly what would happen next. Saved us so much time and stress.
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Ella Harper
•how much does claimyr cost tho?? seems sketchy to have to pay just to talk to edd when its there job to help us anyway!!
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Daniel Rivera
•It's not really sketchy - it's just a service that automates the calling process when EDD's lines are jammed. Considering I spent literally 40+ hours trying to get through on my own (which is time I couldn't work), it was worth it to me. They just helped me get through faster.
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Brooklyn Knight
One additional piece of advice - make sure your daughter checks her earnings record with Social Security. When fraud like this happens, sometimes the criminals have also filed with other agencies or may have unreported wages under her SSN. Go to ssa.gov to create an account and verify everything is correct there too.
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Ruby Blake
•I hadn't even thought of that! We'll definitely check her Social Security record too. This whole situation is turning into such a nightmare. Thank you for the suggestion.
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Owen Devar
my daughter recieved one of those 2 yrs ago and we just ignored it and nothing ever happened lol
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PrinceJoe
•That's extremely risky and not advisable. The IRS may automatically match the 1099-G income to her tax returns and issue a discrepancy notice or even audit. Also, ignoring identity theft leaves the victim vulnerable to further fraud. I strongly recommend proper reporting instead of ignoring it.
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