Anyone else getting scary identity theft alert on NY unemployment portal?

Did you keep certifying? I'm worried if I certify now with this alert, something bad will happen but I also can't afford to miss a payment.

Yeah I kept certifying. I figured stopping payments would just create more problems. Been checking my bank account obsessively tho 👀

yall should check ur credit reports ASAP. This happened to my cousin and someone had already opened 2 credit cards in her name before she caught it!

sounds too good to be true honestly... did it actually work? the unemployment office never answers for anyone

Yeah it actually did work! I was skeptical too but was desperate after trying for 3 days straight. They basically autodial and then call you when they get someone. Took about 45 mins instead of me wasting hours trying to get through.

wait hold up - how does this even work? the phone lines are always jammed

It uses some kind of autodialer technology thats wayyy more effective than us sitting there redialing manually. claimyr.com seriously saved me from having my benefits interrupted.

hmm I've been burned by so many of these 'services' before... what makes this different?

The difference is it actually worked lol. They don't handle any of your personal info - they just connect the call to you once they get through to an agent. I was at my wits end before trying it.

Any idea when theyll publicly announce it? Seems pretty messed up to leave us all in the dark like this.

No clue. Typical government BS to keep it quiet as long as possible. Probly waiting until they fix it so they dont look bad

omg this explains why I got a credit card application rejection in the mail yesterday for a card I NEVER applied for!!! 😱

Yep this tracks. Friend of mine works at the call center and said they got a memo about 'increased security protocols' but werent told to disclose anything to callers yet.

Thank you for this detailed response! Going to follow these steps. Did you have to provide any additional documentation when you finally spoke to someone?

They asked me additional security questions beyond the usual ones, and had me confirm past employers and exact dates. No physical documents needed in my case, but have your ID and SSN card ready just in case.

What's identitytheft.gov? Is that legit?

Yes it's the Federal Trade Commission's official site for reporting identity theft. It creates an official report and recovery plan. Super important to have this documentation.

6 WEEKS? I can't go that long without benefits! Did they backpay you at least?

Yeah they eventually backpaid everything but I had to borrow money from family in the meantime. It suuuucked. The system is totally broken.

Mine got redirected to another account last week. Took 3 days to notice. Now I'm in bureaucratic hell trying to get it back 😭

Yes! My brother had two payments sent to some random account before he caught it. He used claimyr.com to finally get someone on the phone who could help. The money was eventually returned but it took forever.

Try calling right when they open at 8am. Thats how I finally got through. Had to be ready at 7:59 with my finger on the dial button.

Tried that already. Got the 'all agents are busy' message and it hung up on me. 🤬

typical NY unemployment... always finding new ways to make this process even more painful

Read profile 10's comment above - they gave really good step-by-step instructions

The only real solution is getting through to a human. I tried for days before using claimyr.com - it was the only thing that worked for me.

Not helpful dude. We all need unemployment. What were we supposed to do, not apply? 🙄

Fair point. Just frustrated with the whole broken system. Hope everyone gets this figured out.

Keep certifying! If you stop, it could cause even more problems. Just change your password first.

Holy shit why isn't this bigger news?? They should be required to notify everyone!

Thanks for sharing this! I'm shocked this isn't being covered more widely.

Typical. They always try to hide these things. Bet they knew for weeks before putting up those alerts.

Is there anything we can do besides changing our password?

Enable 2FA if available, use a unique complex password, check your credit reports, and monitor your bank accounts daily. And most importantly, actually reach someone at unemployment to verify your account.

Can they access our SSNs through this?

Unfortunately yes - if someone gets into your unemployment account, they likely have access to view your SSN and other personal info already stored there. That's why it's so critical to respond quickly.