NY unemployment identity theft case frozen for 9 months - $36,000 backpay stuck in limbo

This is so messed up. The exact same thing happened to my brother back in October 2020. His case was in "investigation" for months. It's like they put these fraud cases in some eternal purgatory and forget about them. Took him 7 months before he finally saw a penny. Keep pushing and documenting EVERYTHING.

After weeks of trying to get through to an actual human at ny unemployment, I finally found a service that saved me. Used this site called claimyr.com and they actually got me a callback with a real agent! Talking to the agent got my benefits unlocked within days after months of nothing. Seriously was worth every penny since I had like 20k in backpay just sitting there. They have a video explaining how it works: https://youtu.be/Rdqa1gKtxuE

I hate to tell you this, but your partner might be waiting a long time. My cousin's identity was stolen in 2020, and it took 14 months to resolve. NY unemployment is completely overwhelmed with fraud cases since the pandemic. It's not just about verifying identity - they have to track down who committed the fraud, how much was paid out fraudulently, etc. It's a whole investigation.

CONTACT YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE IMMEDIATELY!!! This is literally the only thing that worked for me. They have special contacts at unemployment who can actually do something. My case was stuck for 5 months, I contacted my assembly person, and within 2 weeks I had resolution. Don't wait any longer.

Okay so this happened to me and I finally got it resolved after 6 months of hell. Here's what you need to do: 1) File a police report if you haven't already. They need this documentation. 2) Call the fraud department directly (not regular unemployment) at [number redacted]. Keep calling until you get through. 3) Contact your state assembly person AND state senator. Do both. They have unemployment liaisons. 4) Send in your identity documents again through the secure upload portal, even if you already did. 5) If that fails, use claimyr.com to get through to a live agent who can escalate your case. This system is broken but there are ways through it. Don't give up! They owe your partner that money!

They are 100% stalling because of the large amount. Same exact thing happened to me. My claim was for about $22k and they dragged it out for 8 months. My friend who only had $4k in backpay got his cleared in 6 weeks. It's complete BS.

Unpopular opinion but ur partner should contact the attorney general's office. When normal channels fail for THIS long (almost a year??), you need to escalate higher. The AG's office handles consumer complaints and can put pressure on state agencies.

I worked for nysdol (quit cuz it was a nightmare). Here's what's happening: fraud cases get put in a special queue that only certain investigators can access. There are THOUSANDS of cases and not enough investigators. Your partner needs to: 1) Call and specifically request a "fraud escalation" - use those exact words 2) Ask for a supervisor immediately if the first rep won't help 3) Call EVERY WEEK and note the date and name of who you spoke with 4) Tell them you're filing a complaint with the Dept of Labor Inspector General if not resolved in 30 days Your partner is entitled to that money. Don't let them brush you off with "still pending" excuses. Demand timelines.

i was in this EXACT situation last year. after 11 mons of getting nowhere, i paid for claimyr.com to get me through to a real person (was like banging my head against the wall before that). the lady who finally answerd was amazing and flagged my case for expedited fraud review. got everything resolved within 3 weeks after that call. sometimes you just need to talk to the right person.

check if he has anything in his spam folder or if they sent physical mail. sometimes they request additional verification and if u miss it they just leave the case open forever without telling u 🤦‍♂️

Something similar happened to me and I literally had to get a LAWYER. Paid her $600 for 3 hours of work and suddenly my case was "resolved" within 2 weeks. Funny how that works! 🙄

Another vote for contacting your state representatives. I've worked in a state rep's office, and unemployment issues were like 75% of the constituent work we did. They have dedicated contacts at unemployment who can actually move cases forward. The public-facing customer service reps have almost no power to help with complex cases.

NY unemployment is the absolute WORST. I waited 13 months for my identity theft case to be resolved. The only thing that finally worked was getting my state rep involved AND filing a complaint with the department of labor inspector general. Two weeks after I did both of those things, magically my case was resolved. Coincidence? I think not. 😤

Did he upload his ID documents to the secure portal? They changed the system in 2021 and now require specific documents uploaded through their ID verification portal. Some people miss this step and then wonder why nothing is happening.

Just want to say I feel your pain. My identity theft case took 9 months to resolve. What finally worked for me was using claimyr.com to actually get a human on the phone, then asking for a supervisor immediately, then demanding to know exactly what was holding up my case and what specific documents they needed. Found out they had been waiting for ONE form that no one ever told me about! 🤬

Its NOT a conincidence it's taking so long for a large amount. My husband had a similar issue (19k backpay) and we ended up getting a lawyer. Lawyer told us NY is facing budget issues and they're deliberately slow-walking large claims. Not legal but they do it anyway.

Has your partner been checking his email and mail carefully? Sometimes they send requests for additional documents with a deadline, and if you miss it, they just leave the case in limbo. Happened to my sister - turned out they'd sent an email requesting additional proof months ago and it went to her spam folder.

This whole system is a joke. I used to work for a state agency (not unemployment but similar) and I can tell you exactly what's happening: these cases get flagged in their system and put in a special investigation queue. The problem is they have like 5 investigators for thousands of cases. So unless someone manually flags your case as priority, it just sits there forever. You need to find a way to get it prioritized.

I tried for MONTHS to get my claim fixed after identity theft. Called hundreds of times. Finally used claimyr.com and got through to a real person who actually helped. Talking to an agent got my $ unlocked so fast after almost giving up. Sometimes you just need to get to the right person who can actually help instead of the usual script readers.