Same thing happened to me! Got a random KeyBank card last month and was totally confused since my unemployment ended in September. Turns out it was the Tourism Worker Recovery Fund - I got $2,100 for working at a restaurant in Manhattan before COVID. The card had my full name and came in an official envelope with NY State logos. I was super paranoid about scams but called KeyBank directly and they confirmed it was legit. Activated it right away and the money was available immediately. If you worked in hospitality before March 2020 and filed for unemployment, you're probably eligible. No application needed - they automatically identified people through the unemployment system. Just make sure the card has your actual name on it and came in official packaging!

This is such a relief to read everyone's experiences! I was in the exact same boat - got a random KeyBank card yesterday and immediately thought it was some kind of scam since my UI benefits ended last summer. I worked at a boutique hotel in SoHo for almost 2 years before everything shut down in March 2020. The card has my full name and came in an official white envelope with the NY State and KeyBank logos, so after reading all these comments I'm feeling much more confident it's legitimate. Going to call the number on the back to activate it today! It's honestly amazing that they're finally doing something to help hospitality workers who got hit so hard during the pandemic. Wish they had communicated about this program better though - I had no idea it even existed until stumbling across this post. Thank you everyone for sharing your stories! 🙏

also make sure you apply right away after you quit, don't wait around thinking about it. and when they ask why you quit be very specific about the good cause reasons

Wesley, I went through something very similar about 6 months ago. My manager was creating a hostile work environment and constantly changing my responsibilities without notice. Here's what worked for me: 1) Start documenting EVERYTHING right now - dates, times, what was said/done, any witnesses present. Screenshots of schedule changes, emails, etc. 2) If possible, try to address it in writing first (email to supervisor or HR) so you have a paper trail showing you attempted to resolve it. 3) When you file for unemployment, be very detailed about how the conditions made it impossible to continue working. NYS DOL approved my claim because I could show a pattern of unreasonable treatment that affected my ability to do my job. The documentation was key - without it, it would have just been my word against theirs.

I'm dealing with this exact same issue right now! Completed my ID.me verification 8 days ago and the unemployment system still doesn't recognize it. It's so frustrating because you can see on the ID.me side that everything is verified and complete, but their old system just won't update. From reading all these comments it sounds like this is unfortunately super common and can take weeks to resolve on its own. I might have to try that claimyr service people keep mentioning - seems like actually talking to a human is the only way to get this fixed quickly. Thanks for posting this, at least now I know I'm not alone in this mess!

This is such a common problem and it's absolutely maddening! I went through the exact same thing last year - completed ID.me verification, got all the confirmations, but the unemployment system acted like it never happened. What worked for me was finally getting through to a live person who explained that there's literally a manual step someone has to do on their end to connect your ID.me verification to your unemployment file. It's not automatic at all! I ended up using claimyr.com after weeks of frustration, and the agent I got connected to fixed it immediately. She said she sees this issue multiple times every day. The whole "modern" verification system is just a band-aid on their ancient backend. Hang in there - once you get to talk to someone who knows what they're doing, it'll be resolved super quickly!

I just went through this exact situation 4 months ago! Got terminated in a "restructuring" (which we all know is often just an excuse) and received a settlement with severance and NDA. The settlement absolutely does NOT disqualify you from unemployment benefits - I was worried about the same thing. What matters is that your termination was involuntary, which it clearly was. When I filed my claim, I reported everything honestly - the settlement amount, dates, and circumstances of termination. NYS DOL reviewed it and approved me without any issues. The key is being transparent from day one. Don't wait to file - there's already a waiting period built in, so get the process started now. My benefits started about 3 weeks after filing, and the settlement actually helped because it provided clear documentation that the termination was the company's decision, not mine. You've got this!

I'm in a very similar boat - just got terminated last week in what they called "organizational restructuring" and I'm about to receive a settlement package. This whole thread has been incredibly helpful! It's reassuring to see so many people confirm that settlements don't disqualify you from unemployment benefits as long as the termination was involuntary. Based on everyone's experiences here, it sounds like the key is being completely transparent with NYS DOL from the start and filing your claim as soon as possible. I'm planning to file mine this week. One question though - for those who went through this process, did you find it helpful to keep copies of any internal company communications about the restructuring/layoffs to support your case, or was the settlement agreement documentation sufficient on its own?

Check if maybe you had a short period of unemployment you forgot about? Sometimes people get confused about what year they received benefits or if they got other types of assistance that show up on 1099-G forms.

Update: I called the fraud hotline and they confirmed someone used my SSN to file a claim. The benefits were direct deposited to an account that's definitely not mine. They're opening an investigation and said I should get a corrected 1099-G in 6-8 weeks. Thanks everyone for the help - I was really panicking about this.