What do I do if someone filed for unemployment in my name with California EDD?

I had no idea this was so common, that's honestly terrifying. I already went to edd.ca.gov and found the fraud reporting page. Do I need to do anything specific with my employer? I'm worried about how this affects my work situation.

Yes, you should loop in your employer's HR department. California EDD typically sends notices to employers when a claim is filed against their account, so HR may already know or will find out soon. Getting ahead of it with them is way better than waiting. Just explain you discovered fraudulent UI claim activity under your name and you're actively reporting it.

Definitely freeze your credit immediately. Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion all let you do it online for free. If someone has enough of your info to file a California EDD claim they have your SSN at minimum and possibly more.

The tax thing is what scares me most honestly. If I get a 1099-G for money I never received that's going to be a huge mess. Thanks for the heads up about Form 14039, I'm writing all this down.

same thing happened to me with the 1099-G it took forever to get sorted out with the IRS, way more annoying than the EDD part honestly

I've been trying to call California EDD all morning and keep getting the 'we cannot take your call' message and getting disconnected. Going to check out Claimyr right now, I really need to talk to an actual person about this today.

seconding this for fraud cases specifically - online forms can take days to process and meanwhile payments keep going out. Getting a live agent on the phone stops the clock much faster.

does claimyr actually work for reaching EDD? I've been skeptical of those services but if it worked for fraud situations I might try it

It worked for me - I got a callback within a couple hours and the agent was able to flag the fraudulent claim right then and there during the call. Way better than waiting days for an online submission to get processed.

Just emailed HR and my direct manager. HR said they did receive a notice from EDD about two weeks ago but assumed it was a clerical error and didn't act on it. I'm so frustrated they didn't mention it to me!

Ugh, that's frustrating but unfortunately common. The good news is HR can still respond to that notice and contest the claim. Have them call California EDD's employer line specifically - it's separate from the claimant line and usually easier to get through on.

yeah a lot of HR departments don't take those EDD notices seriously enough, they just file it and forget it. Glad you got to them before too much time passed

This is the most organized breakdown I've seen so far, thank you. Printing this out right now. Quick question - for step 1 does the online fraud report actually stop payments or do I still need the phone call?

The online report creates the fraud case but doesn't immediately suspend the claim - that typically requires manual action by an agent. So yes, do both. The online form creates the official record, the phone call is what actually stops the payments faster.

This is solid advice. I'd add - take screenshots of everything you find in the EDD online system showing the fraudulent claim before you report it, just in case you need documentation later.

Good distinction. Usually EDD fraud is done by submitting a new claim using stolen personal info (name, SSN, address) rather than actually hacking into an existing myEDD account. But OP should definitely check their myEDD account and change the password immediately regardless, and enable two-factor authentication if it's available.

I just checked and my myEDD login seems to be my original account with my real email - the fraudulent claim is showing under my SSN but I don't think someone actually accessed my account directly. Still changing my password now though.

ok good, yeah changing the password is smart either way. also check if there are any bank account numbers added to the claim for direct deposit that aren't yours

Overpayment notice for money I never received sounds like an absolute nightmare. Did that actually happen to you? How did you handle it?

Yes it happened to me. I got an overpayment notice for around $9,500. I had to call EDD and reference my fraud case number and they were able to link it and dismiss the overpayment. It took about 3 phone calls to fully resolve but it did get resolved. Keep your fraud case number somewhere safe.

This is really important info - the fraud case number is basically your lifeline for every future interaction related to this. Write it down, screenshot it, email it to yourself.

Just pulled my reports and nothing suspicious on credit yet thankfully. Still freezing everything today.

Good news on the credit front! Stay vigilant though - sometimes the credit stuff comes weeks or months after the initial identity theft. Put fraud alerts on your accounts too on top of the freeze.

The not knowing is honestly the worst part right now. I submitted the online fraud form this morning but have no confirmation number or anything that says it was received. Going to try Claimyr to actually talk to someone and confirm.

Yeah she said she got a case number from the agent during the call which she'd never gotten from the online submission. Definitely worth the call.

Oh wow I did not know this, going back to double check which form I submitted. Thank you!

The specific one you want is the 'Report UI Fraud' option and then select 'I am a victim of UI fraud/identity theft' - it takes you to the right form. The URL should have something about identity theft in it.

yes exactly that's the one. it asks for your personal info to verify your identity and then lets you describe the fraudulent claim

This is incredibly helpful. I'm going to forward this to HR right now with exactly this language. They said they weren't sure what to write in response to the EDD notice.

Also have HR request a return receipt or confirmation number from EDD when they submit their response. Every interaction should have a paper trail. And tell them to specifically ask the EDD rep to note in the claim file that the employer is contesting on grounds of suspected identity theft fraud.

Seconding the 'use the word fraudulent' tip - it flags the claim for a different review process than a standard employer contest. Really good advice.

Not a dumb question. When you log into myEDD you can see some claim details but typically not the bank account or routing numbers for security reasons. However, when you speak with a California EDD agent as part of the fraud investigation, they can document that information internally and pass it to their fraud investigation unit. You don't necessarily see it yourself but it gets flagged for law enforcement referral.

oh ok that makes sense, I was just thinking it could help catch the person but I guess EDD handles that part internally

4 months is longer than I was hoping but at least there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Feeling a little better about this knowing other people have gotten through it.

You'll be fine. Just stay on top of it, don't let it sit, and follow up every couple weeks if you haven't heard anything. The squeaky wheel gets the grease with EDD fraud cases.

Yeah 4 months sounds about right based on my experience too. It's annoying but it's not permanent.

I had completely forgotten about state taxes. Adding FTB report to my list right now. This thread has been so helpful I can't believe how many different angles there are to this.

It's a lot to manage, I know. If it helps, think of it this way: you're essentially building a fortress of documentation from multiple directions so that no matter where the fraudulent claim shows up - IRS, FTB, EDD, credit bureaus - there's already a report on file that links back to your identity theft case.

There is technically a separate fraud reporting line but in my experience and from what I've heard from others it's not noticeably easier to reach than the regular line. The Claimyr approach I mentioned earlier worked better for me than trying to specifically use the fraud line vs regular line distinction.

ugh yeah that tracks with my experience. EDD phone lines are just universally painful no matter which number you call

The EDD fraud unit also accepts written correspondence by mail if phone is truly impossible. It's slower but it creates an official timestamped record. In a fraud situation I'd still prioritize phone contact first but mail is a backup option.

30-day follow up calendar reminder is set. Simple but I probably wouldn't have thought to do that, I'd just be refreshing the EDD website obsessively.

Refreshing the website is also fine but EDD online account updates can lag behind actual case status by days or even weeks. A phone call gets you real-time info that the portal might not reflect yet.

Checked haveibeenpwned and apparently my email was in 3 different breaches. All old ones but still. This all makes a lot more sense now.

Yeah unfortunately old breaches are just as dangerous as new ones for this kind of fraud because criminals buy and compile data from multiple old breaches to build complete identity packages. Your EDD fraud situation very likely traces back to one of those.

This is a really underrated point - people think old breaches don't matter but fraudsters are patient and they combine data from multiple sources over time. A breach from 5 years ago can absolutely fuel fraud today.

Absolutely will update. So far: fraud report submitted online, HR contacted and responding to EDD, credit frozen at all three bureaus, police report filed, FTC identity theft report created. Still trying to reach a live EDD agent to confirm my fraud case - going to use Claimyr tomorrow morning to get through since my calls today kept getting disconnected. Will report back on how that goes and eventual resolution.

Thanks for the update already, sounds like you've taken all the right steps super quickly. Good luck getting through to EDD tomorrow.

Sounds like you're handling this really well given how stressful it must be. Rooting for a fast resolution for you.

Oh wow I would never have thought about it resurfacing on a background check. Adding 'get written confirmation letter' to my checklist. Thank you!

It's rare but it happens, especially if background check companies pull EDD records and the internal fraud notation didn't fully propagate. The letter protects you.

Excellent advice. From an HR standpoint, that written confirmation letter is exactly what you'd want to have if a background check ever flagged UI benefit activity during a period you were employed. Cover every base you can.