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Identity theft with my ny unemployment account - someone else is collecting MY benefits!

I discovered something really disturbing last week when I checked my account. Someone has been collecting unemployment benefits using my identity since April! I initially lost my job in February due to company downsizing and filed for benefits immediately. I received payments for about 5 weeks, then they suddenly stopped without explanation. I tried calling the unemployment office multiple times but kept getting disconnected or stuck on hold for hours. I even sent emails through their contact portal - nothing. Finally, I managed to log into my account last Wednesday and discovered that my mailing address and bank account info had been changed to something I don't recognize. Looks like someone has been receiving approximately $542 per week that should have been coming to me! I immediately reported this to the fraud department and filed a police report. They're supposedly 'investigating' but told me it could take 6-8 weeks to resolve. Meanwhile, I'm behind on rent and bills with no income. Has this happened to anyone else? Any advice on how to speed up this process or who else I should contact? This is absolutely insane.

Tyrone Hill

omg this happened to me too!! I found out in June that someone had been collecting my benefits since March. They somehow changed my direct deposit info and were getting my payments for months while I was struggling to buy food. The system is completely broken - I had to call over 30 times before I got through to someone who could help.

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Anderson Prospero

That's terrible! How long did it take them to resolve your case? Did you ever get your money back?

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1M

Tyrone Hill

its been almost 2 months and still waiting. they did stop the payments to the fraudster but I haven't seen a penny of what was stolen or any new payments. living on credit cards now 😭

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1M

Toot-n-Mighty

this is why I check my account EVERY WEEK. they making it so easy for scammers but impossible for us regular people trying to get what we deserve

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27d

Lena Kowalski

After dealing with a similar nightmare, I finally found a way to actually reach a human at unemployment. I used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) and they got me connected to an actual agent without me having to spend hours on hold. The agent was able to flag my account for priority fraud investigation and I had my benefits restored within 10 days. Talking to an agent got my $ unlocked so fast - check out this video that explains how it works: https://youtu.be/Rdqa1gKtxuE

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DeShawn Washington

sounds like one of those ads that pops up everywhere. anyone ACTUALLY try this? 🤨

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27d

Lena Kowalski

yeah I was skeptical too but I was desperate after trying for weeks to get through. it seriously worked - they call on your behalf and then connect you when a real person picks up. saved me from losing my apartment tbh

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25d

Mei-Ling Chen

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

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25d

Lena Kowalski

the difference is this actually got me to a real person! they don't resolve your claim or anything - they just solve the impossible problem of getting past the busy signals and hold times

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25d

Sofía Rodríguez

not falling for another unemployment 'hack'... these never work

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25d

Aiden O'Connor

So I was about to throw my phone after 3 hours on hold when my cousin told me about this. I tried it and no joke, talked to an actual human at unemployment within an hour. Never thought I'd say this but THIS!!!

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25d

Zoe Papadopoulos

I feel for you. The same thing happened to me but with my tax refund. You need to also file a report with the FTC at identitytheft.gov - they have a specific process for unemployment identity theft. Also freeze your credit with all three agencies ASAP!

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Jamal Brown

I work at a bank and we're seeing this ALL THE TIME right now. Here's what you need to do: 1) File an identity theft report with FTC at IdentityTheft.gov 2) Call all three credit bureaus and place a fraud alert 3) File a police report - get a case number 4) Contact your state attorney general's office 5) Document EVERYTHING - names, dates, reference numbers 6) If you can't get through on the phone, try going to an in-person unemployment office 7) Check if your employer received any notifications about claims in your name Unfortunately, these cases are taking 2-3 months to resolve on average. The unemployment offices are completely overwhelmed with fraud cases right now. I've seen people have success using claimyr.com to actually get through to an agent instead of waiting on hold forever. The key is getting a human on the phone who can escalate your case internally.

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Anderson Prospero

Thank you so much for this detailed response! I've already done 1-3 but didn't know about contacting the attorney general. Will do that tomorrow.

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25d

Fatima Al-Rashid

The in-person offices in NYC have crazy long lines tho. My cousin waited 4 hours last week and still didn't get seen.

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25d

Jamal Brown

Yeah the lines are brutal. That's why I mentioned the call service - avoid the wait. But if calling doesn't work, sometimes physically being there is the only option left.

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25d

Giovanni Rossi

NY unemployment system is a JOKE 🤡 they let scammers steal our money but make us jump thru a million hoops to get what's rightfully ours. then they have the nerve to say they're 'improving security' 🙄

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Aaliyah Jackson

FOR REAL!! My identity was stolen last year and I'm STILL fighting to get my money back. The 'security questions' did nothing to stop the thieves.

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25d

KylieRose

they spend more time investigating legit claims than going after the actual fraudsters. make it make sense!

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25d

Miguel Hernández

File a complaint with your state representative/senator. I did this after 6 weeks of no response from unemployment and magically got a call from a supervisor 2 days later. They hate the negative attention from elected officials.

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Sasha Ivanov

This right here!! 💯 Politicians can light a fire under their butts. My assemblyman's office got my issue fixed in 10 days after I spent months getting nowhere.

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25d

Liam Murphy

i had this exact problem and finally got it resolved but took 11 weeks. the secret is to be super persistant. call EVERYDAY. I finally got thru using claimyr.com - cost money but worth it to actually talk to somone who could help. also contact ur state rep like others said.

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Amara Okafor

Have you checked if your SSN is being used for other types of fraud? This happened to my brother and they also opened credit cards in his name. You need to be scorching the earth on this one - it's rarely limited to just unemployment.

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Anderson Prospero

Oh god I didn't even think of that. Checking my credit report right now. Thanks for the heads up!

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25d

CaptainAwesome

annualcreditreport.com lets you check all 3 bureaus for free. do it now!

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25d

Yuki Tanaka

This is exactly why I tell people to set up account notifications for everything. If you had text alerts on, you would have known the moment your direct deposit info changed.

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Anderson Prospero

I didn't even know they offered text alerts tbh. Where do you set that up?

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25d

Yuki Tanaka

In your ny.gov account there's a communication preferences section. Turn on EVERYTHING - email, text, the works.

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25d

Esmeralda Gómez

doesn't always help. my bf had alerts but the scammers somehow intercepted the verification texts. system is broken from top to bottom.

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Klaus Schmidt

If u cant get through to anyone, contact your local news station. I swear this works. My cousin's unemployment fraud case was dragging on for months until she contacted the 'fighting for you' segment on channel 7. They did a story and her case was resolved in a week.

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