Identity theft ruined my NY unemployment claim - need help recovering stolen benefits

This unfortunately happens a lot with NY unemployment. The backdating team is extremely backlogged in 2025, so expect to wait at least 6-8 weeks for them to complete their investigation. Make sure you've also filed a police report about the identity theft and submitted form FTC-721 (Identity Theft Report) to NYSDOL. Without that documentation, they might not process your claim correctly. Have you received a claim investigation number yet?

same exact thing happend to me last year!!! took FOREVER to fix but i finally got my $$$. the key is you HAVE to talk to a specialist not just the regular reps. regular agents cant do ANYTHING for identity fraud cases

I work with identity theft cases fairly regularly, and I can tell you that NY unemployment fraud cases are taking 8-12 weeks minimum right now. The backdating team is absolutely overwhelmed because of the massive identity theft ring that hit New York in late 2024. Here's what you need to do: 1. Make sure you've completed form UI-FTC (the specific NYSDOL identity theft form) 2. Submit your credit reports showing the fraudulent activity 3. Contact your state assembly person's office - they can often expedite these cases 4. Request weekly status updates via the secure message center Most importantly, keep certifying each week even though you're getting denied. Once they resolve the identity theft issue, they'll backdate all those weeks, but only if you've been certifying regularly.

Is there any way to see who actually got the money from your claim? Like their name or anything? My cousin had this happen and he found out it was actually someone he knew who stole his identity!!

The whole system is RIGGED against honest people!!! I had the EXACT same problem in 2024 and it took them 5 MONTHS to fix it!!! FIVE MONTHS with no income because some scammer stole my info. And then when they finally fixed it they tried to say I wasn't eligible for some of the weeks!!! The NYSDOL is completely BROKEN!!!

After dealing with a similar issue, I finally gave up trying to call during normal hours because it was impossible to get through. I was desperate and found this service called Claimyr that got me connected to an actual NYSDOL agent in about 20 minutes. It worked surprisingly well and I finally got to speak with someone in the fraud department who could see my case notes and provide real updates. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Rdqa1gKtxuE Once I actually talked to the right person, they were able to expedite my case and I had resolution within 2 weeks. The key was getting to someone who could actually see all the notes in my fraud case file.

Did you check your credit reports yet? When this happened to me it wasn't just unemployment - they also opened credit cards in my name!!! You need to freeze your credit at all 3 bureaus RIGHT NOW if you haven't already!!!! This is super important!!!!

Quick follow-up about the backdating process: once you do get through to a specialist, make sure you request form UI-44.2 (Backdating Special Circumstance Review). This form specifically addresses identity theft situations and can help expedite your case. Also, when they do resolve it, double-check that they've properly credited you for the waiting week - many identity theft victims report that this gets missed in the recalculation.

Update: I finally got through to someone in the fraud department this morning! They said my case is actually being processed but could still take 3-4 more weeks. They also confirmed I need to fill out that UI-FTC form that someone mentioned earlier. Apparently, they can't complete the investigation without it. Wish they'd told me that weeks ago! Going to fill that out today and upload it to my account.