NY unemployment ID.me nightmare with someone else using my email

Omg I had a similar issue with ID.me last month! The trick is you need to open a support ticket with them specifically for "account merger" not just general help. There's a special form on their help center. Still took them like 10 days to respond but at least they fixed it. The other thing that helped was I kept emailing every 3 days with the same ticket number in the subject line. squeaky wheel gets the grease and all that.

After trying for 3 weeks to reach someone at ny unemployment about my ID.me issues, I used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) and got a callback with an actual agent! Best money I ever spent to get my issues fixed. They did some quick verification and forwarded me to a supervisor who could override the ID.me requirement temporarily. Check them out here: https://youtu.be/Rdqa1gKtxuE

ID.me is the absolute WORST. I had almost the identical problem and it took them 5 weeks to resolve it. They kept saying they'd escalate my case but nothing would happen. I finally got it fixed by tweeting at them publicly and tagging the NY department of labor in the tweet. Magically got an email within hours after that.

Your cousin needs to send a certified letter to both ID.me AND the ny unemployment office explaining the situation. I was stuck in this same hellhole for almost 2 months. What worked for me was sending physical mail with copies of all my documentation. Sometimes these digital systems just don't work right but old fashioned mail gets to an actual human.

This sounds like identity theft honestly. If someone else is using an email that's supposedly connected to your cousin's information, they might be trying to claim benefits in his name. My brother had this happen and it was a nightmare. You need to report this to the fraud department at NYSDOL immediately!

Step by step guide for fixing ID.me issues with NY unemployment (from someone who's been through this hell): 1. First, try calling ID.me directly at 866-775-4363. Yes they say email only but this number does work sometimes. 2. Next, create a completely new email address and try setting up a fresh ID.me account with it. Sometimes their system gets confused with existing emails. 3. If that doesn't work, go to the NY DOL website and look for the "secure message" center. Write specifically asking for an "identity verification override" due to ID.me technical issues. 4. While waiting, try using a service like Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an actual human at unemployment. They basically wait on hold for you and call when they get someone. 5. When you do get through to NYSDOL, ask specifically for a Tier 2 specialist who handles ID verification issues. Regular agents can't help with this. This process took me 3 weeks but I finally got it resolved. The key is attacking it from multiple angles at once. Don't just wait for one approach to work. Good luck! The system is broken but with persistence you can get through it.

Have you tried reaching out to your state representative? I was stuck in ID.me purgatory for 6 weeks and nothing was working until I contacted my assemblyman's office. They have special liaisons with the unemployment office and got my issue resolved in 3 days after I'd been trying for over a month.

I went thru this exact thing, but it was MY email that someone else had used. Turned out to be identity theft. You need to: 1) File a police report 2) Put a fraud alert on his credit 3) Contact the FTC at identitytheft.gov 4) Call NYSDOL fraud line. Don't just focus on fixing the ID.me issue - this could be much bigger if someone has his personal info.

pro tip: go on twitter and @ the NYSDOL and ID.me accounts in the same tweet describing your issue. Public shaming works wonders. I was ignored for 4 weeks then tweeted about my problem and suddenly got emails from both within hours. They hate the bad publicity.

someone posted this trick on another thread and it worked for me - try going through the ID.me recovery process but instead of using the email they say is a duplicate, use your PHONE NUMBER for recovery. For some reason this bypassed the duplicate email issue for me and I was able to verify that way!

ive literally been in this EXACT situation for 7 weeks now!!! ny unemployment is a joke. ive called over 50 times and either get hung up on or told "we cant help with id.me issues" 😡 plz update if you figure anything out cuz im about to be homeless over this stupid technology.

Check if your cousin's SSN has been leaked in any data breaches. Go to haveibeenpwned.com and enter his email - if it's been in any breaches, that might explain how someone got his info. My husband had the same ID.me issue and it turned out his data was leaked in the Equifax breach years ago.

lmao welcome to the ny unemployment experience 🤡 where nothing works and nobody cares. took me 4 months to get my benefits after identity issues. best advice: document EVERYTHING. every call, email, letter. you'll need it when they inevitably lose your info or claim they never received it.