Income reporting confusion with EDD - terrified of potential fraud penalties

Yikes ur in a tricky situation. I wouldn't worry to much tho, just call and explain wat happened. If ur honest they might jus make u pay back the over payment without fraud penalties. but u definitely gotta report it asap!!

You need to address this immediately. The EDD considers ANY unreported income while receiving benefits as potential fraud, and yes, they do eventually catch these discrepancies through employer wage reporting. The longer you wait, the worse it looks. Here's what you should do: 1. Document your attempts to contact them (dates/times) 2. Send a message through your UI Online account explaining the situation 3. Continue trying to reach a representative by phone 4. When you do reach someone, be completely honest about the mistake You'll likely have to repay the overpayment, but if you self-report before they fully identify the issue through their verification process, you may avoid the 30% penalty and potential disqualification period.

Yes, continue certifying but report ALL income accurately moving forward. If you stop certifying completely, it could complicate your claim further. Just make sure you're reporting both income sources correctly on future certifications.

I had something similar happen last year - forgot to report one week of income from a temporary job. EDD eventually caught it during a quarterly review and sent me a Notice of Overpayment. I freaked out too, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. I had to pay back the overpaid amount, but since it was clearly unintentional (just one week), they didn't assess fraud penalties. Keep trying to reach them! The key is getting ahead of it before they officially flag it as fraud. The phone system is literally the worst though - I spent 2 weeks trying to get through.

I was in your exact situation last year. Try using Claimyr.com - it's a service that helps you get through to EDD faster. They basically keep dialing for you and call you when they get an EDD agent on the line. Saved me days of frustration. They have a video demo of how it works here: https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10?si=TSwYbu_GOwYzt9km Once you get through, explain that it was an honest mistake and you're trying to correct it. The rep I spoke with was actually understanding. I still had to repay the overpayment, but they waived the 30% penalty because I self-reported before they completed their review.

Why report it at all? Just keep going until they catch it lol. I mean its the government, they probably wont even notice for like another year and by then you can just say oops sorry!!!

Hey, just wanted to let you know I went through this exact situation in 2023. I had a part-time job and then started freelancing on the side, completely forgot to report the freelance income for about 6 weeks. When I realized my mistake, I panicked just like you. I managed to get through to EDD (took 3 days of calling) and explained everything honestly. The representative made note of my self-reporting and told me they would review my case. I ended up getting an overpayment notice about 4 weeks later, but it was classified as a "non-fraud overpayment" which meant I only had to pay back the exact amount I was overpaid, without any additional penalties. The key is documenting your attempts to contact them and being completely transparent. Write down every time you call, take screenshots of any UI Online messages you send, etc. This creates a paper trail showing you tried to fix the situation as soon as you realized the mistake.

make sure u save ALL ur paystubs from BOTH jobs!!! EDD will want 2 see them when u talk to them. they made me fax over like 3 months of paystubs when i had a similar thing happen. its a pain but u need the proof of exactly what u earned.

The entire EDD system is DESIGNED to trip people up and then punish them!!! I bet they already know about your second job income but are waiting to hit you with penalties. The whole thing is a TRAP. I had a similar issue and they made me pay back EVERYTHING plus a 30% penalty even though I tried to explain it was a mistake. The system is broken and they don't care about regular people AT ALL.

UPDATE: I finally got through to EDD using that Claimyr service someone recommended, and I'm SO relieved. The rep was actually understanding when I explained everything. She documented my call and said I need to submit copies of all my paystubs from the second job. She said since I self-reported before they completed their review, it would likely be classified as a non-fraud overpayment. I'll still have to pay back the excess benefits I received, but at least I won't get hit with fraud penalties. Thanks everyone for your help and advice during my meltdown!