NY unemployment finally addressing the identity theft issue after months of silence

From what the supervisor told me, they freeze the account once fraud is reported but the investigation takes forever. She said that's why they're not responding to people - they're backlogged with thousands of cases. Definitely frustrating!

The same exact thing happened to me! Got a random letter about benefits approval when I never even applied. Its crazy how many people this is happening to

they need to hire more people to handle these cases smh. like how is taking 4+ months to investigate acceptable?? meanwhile our credit scores could be tanking

Does this actually work? I've been trying to get someone on the phone for literally 2 months about my identity theft case.

100% worked for me. I was super skeptical at first but after trying to call myself for weeks and getting nowhere, I was desperate. Got connected with an actual claims specialist who took all my info and flagged my account for the fraud team. It was the only way I could get someone to actually acknowledge my problem.

yeah right, another 'miracle solution'... what's the catch? 🙄

No catch - it just saves you from having to call and stay on hold yourself. They wait in the phone queue and only connect you when a real person picks up. Talking to an agent got my case moving after being stuck for months. Worth every penny considering how much stress it saved me.

wait hold up - does this actually work or is it just the usual BS?

It worked for me - finally got my identity theft case assigned to an investigator after using it. Before that I was just getting automated responses or nothing at all. Check their reviews if you're on the fence.

This is so helpful, thank you! Do you know if changing your SSN would help prevent this from happening again? Or is that too drastic?

Changing your SSN is extremely difficult and usually only approved in cases of demonstrated ongoing harm. It probably wouldn't help much anyway since the thieves already have your other personal info (name, DOB, address history, etc). Better to freeze credit, use 2FA everywhere, and monitor your accounts closely.

is there a website where you can check if your info was part of a known breach? I swear I've been careful but somehow these scammers still got my info

Try haveibeenpwned.com - it won't catch everything, but it's a good starting point to see if your email or phone was in any known breaches.

That's really smart! I didn't even think about contacting my local rep. Which office did you contact exactly? And did you just call them or send an email?

Google your NY State Assembly rep based on your address. Call their office directly and explain you're a constituent with unemployment identity fraud. They'll have you fill out a form consenting to them advocating on your behalf. Way faster than waiting for NYSDOL to get around to your case!

For real. The system was designed in the 1980s and they just keep patching it. During covid my claim got stuck for months because their ancient system couldn't handle my previous employer's name having an ampersand in it. I'm not even joking.

8 months is actually FAST compared to what I've heard from others. Some people are still fighting claims from early 2022! 🤦‍♂️

Thank you for this breakdown! I'm in week 6 of trying to get my identity theft case resolved and was feeling hopeless. Gonna try contacting my state rep tomorrow.

Just wanted to say claimyr.com actually worked for me too. Got through to someone who actually knew what they were talking about after weeks of automated messages and disconnections.

Do you have the exact link for the NY unemployment fraud form? Their website is so confusing I can't find it anywhere

Here's the direct link to the fraud reporting form: https://dol.ny.gov/report-fraud. Make sure you follow up with calls though, the form alone isn't enough!

doesn't freezing your credit mess up your score tho? I'm planning to buy a house next year so I'm worried about doing anything that might affect my credit

Freezing your credit has ZERO impact on your credit score! It just prevents new accounts from being opened. You can temporarily lift it when you need to apply for something legitimate. Much better than dealing with identity theft when buying a house!

yup 💯 this is the best advice. I freeze and unfreeze mine all the time when applying for things. Takes like 5 mins to temporarily lift it when needed.

NY's system is running on ancient technology from like the 90s. They were supposed to upgrade years ago but never did. Then covid hit and everything fell apart.

Omg I never thought to check this! Going to look at mine right now. If it shows up there does that mean we're responsible for taxes on money we never got??

You need to file IRS form 14039 (Identity Theft Affidavit) right away if this happens! It alerts the IRS that you're a victim of identity theft and prevents tax problems. I had to do this last year.

Just checked - it can take up to a YEAR for the SSA to correct earnings records after fraud. This is such a nightmare.

how does that service work? never heard of it before

They basically wait on hold for you and then call you when they get a real person. I was skeptical but talking to an agent got my $ situation resolved way faster than just sending emails into the void. Their site is claimyr.com if you want to check it out.

another day, another company promising to fix the unfixable unemployment system lol

They don't fix the system - they just help you get through to a human who can actually help instead of waiting on hold for hours. Huge difference between that and companies claiming they can magically fix your claim.

Any idea where the data breach came from? I'm so careful with my info but somehow these scammers still got everything.

My friend couldn't say for sure, but they suspect it might be connected to some healthcare systems that were breached last year. The thieves are just now using that data for unemployment fraud.

the real problem is that once your SSN is leaked, it's leaked FOREVER. There's no way to change it easily and we're just supposed to deal with it for the rest of our lives? The system is fundamentally broken.