Discovered something terrifying last week when I checked my payment history. Someone managed to hack into my ny unemployment account and changed my direct deposit info! I lost over $2,800 in benefits that were sent to some random bank account I've never seen before. I noticed this happened when I didn't receive my payment on Tuesday like usual. Logged in and saw all my previous 7 payments (dating back to May) went to my actual bank, but suddenly the last 4 payments from June-July went somewhere else. The system shows the money as "paid" but I never got a penny of it. Called unemployment about 30 times over 3 days with no luck getting through. Finally reached someone yesterday who told me this is happening a lot lately. They filed a fraud report but said it could take 8-12 WEEKS to investigate! Meanwhile I'm behind on rent and utilities with no income. The agent also said I need to file a police report, freeze my credit, and contact the attorney general's office. I've done all that but feel completely overwhelmed. Has anyone else dealt with this? Any advice on how to speed up the investigation or get emergency funds while waiting?

Had a small freak out today because my KeyBank debit card for unemployment isnt working anymore. I tried to buy groceries and the card just got declined. Theres about $640 still sitting in that account that I've been saving for emergencies. The timing couldn't be worse since I just moved apartments last week and I'm totally broke from paying the security deposit and first months rent. Called KeyBank customer service after panicking for a couple hours and they said I need to re-register my card since my address changed. Now I'm trying to figure out the fastest way to transfer whats left to my regular bank account so I don't have to deal with this card anymore. Anyone else have this happen after changing your address? What a nightmare.

I've been dealing with a nightmare since May. Someone hacked my unemployment account and received a payment that was meant for me around May 18th. I reported it immediately but haven't seen a single dollar since May 5th. That's over 9 months with zero payments! I lost my job again in December and filed a new claim, but still nothing. I call every single week - today I started at 6:30am and when 8:00 hit, all I got was 'call volume too high' messages before getting disconnected. My benefit year is about to expire next month and I'm completely out of options. I've had several job interviews but nothing solid yet. I just want the back payments I'm legally entitled to. Has anyone found a way to actually talk to a human being there?

I applied for unemployment the second week of October and got a packet with forms to fill out about 8 days later. I filled everything out immediately and mailed it back the very next day. I've been faithfully certifying every week since then, but my account still shows pending. Meanwhile, my brother filed just 3 days before me and already got a text message and email last week saying he was approved! I haven't received any communication whatsoever - no texts, no emails, nothing. I've tried calling all the phone numbers multiple times but can never get through to an actual person. Just automated messages and then disconnected. It's been over a month now with zero updates. I'm getting really frustrated and bills are piling up. Has anyone else experienced this delay? What could be causing this and what should I do?

So frustrated with the system right now. I got laid off in August when my company downsized and I applied for benefits immediately. I was approved after about 3 weeks but there was some weird glitch where they didn't process my first 6 weeks properly. When I check my payment history, those weeks show as 'pending backdate review' with a weird error code. I've been trying to get this resolved since October and it's now December - that's over $2,800 that I'm owed! I've called at least 20 times but can never get through to a real person. The automated system just tells me my claim is 'under review' and to wait. Has anyone else dealt with this 'pending backdate review' status and actually gotten their back pay? I'm about to miss another rent payment and I'm getting desperate.