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Fraud within the unemployment office

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LIlly702

New member
What is the name of your state? North Carolina

On the last week of July, my PUA was placed on and "account hold" as of 10/6 the PUA account is still on hold. I have contacted the NC DES unemployment office over 10 times. Each time I contact them they tell me my claim should not be on hold and that they will escalate for review. When they escalate, no one contacts me. This has been going on since July 21.

I have sent complaints to the governor's office, ombudsman, and still no help. When I contacted the unemployment office again I spoke to the missed claims payment dept. I was transferred to a supervisor. She stated she would help me. She contacted me and told me they would need a copy of my driver's license and social security. I was hesitant but desperate due to all the back up on bills. I have not had any return communication since I have sent this to the NC unemployment office.

I am afraid I have out of desperation opened myself up to identity theft and fraud from within the unemployment office. PLEASE HELP
 


PayrollHRGuy

Senior Member
There has been an overwhelming number of completely fraudulent claims in the UI system nationwide. And I'm not talking about the normal, really working but filing for UI sort of claims they deal with on a day by day basis. I'm talking about identity theft based claims.

They are simply overwhelmed.
 

commentator

Senior Member
Yes, this is very true, but one thing I am completely sure of. They do not need your drivers license information and your social security number for some scary reason. They, as in the agency workers, are not going to use them in some devious fraud scheme. Actually no results since July isn't too bad. I have known of cases in other states where people have been waiting since April., are just now getting things dealt with. You are doing right to go with your elected officials. Keep filing requests for help and checking on your claim repeatedly .Sometimes state representatives are more effective that complaints to the governor's office. Ten times contacting them isn't a lot. Do it as often as you are able.

It sounds like your identity verification may have been missing from the original claim. To help you, the supervisor mush have needed your i.d. When you filed the original claim, you should have submitted this stuff at this time, so I don't see why it would be so traumatic to submit this again. They get this sort of I.D. for every single claim that gets filed., or should get it. I understand that YOU personally are very involved in this situation, and that you personally are very involved in getting your money asap. But worrying that you personally are going to submit your information and find that it has been used by someone within the unemployment system to get false claims set up and make some money from it is pretty unlikely.

Yes, there have been a large number of people who have figured out that when the system is going to pay people who DO NOT have wages recorded by the system, wage records submitted by covered employers, they're wide open for just giving it to anybody with a SS# and driver's license or some other form or ID who applies and lies. There have been cases in every state, large numbers of them, in fact, where stolen i.d. was used to set up large numbers of claims. That we've heard about this is a sign that guess what? They've caught a large number of these. The public doesn't hear about it if it's working great.. The only possible way to deal with this is to assume that frauds of this type are everywhere, and work to check on everything they can get hold of that looks suspicious. They still have their fraud investigators going full on, and all the usual cross checking is still working for all the claims they are getting processed.

There are lot of people who have concocted elaborate schemes to cheat the claims system. When I first heard about what they were planning to do, use the unemployment system to pay people who had no recorded wages, but were self employed I and a lot of my former co workers were appalled. The unemployment system is not set up to pay anybody for nothing, or at least nothing tangible that could be verified. I'm sure they're in chaos.

They're dealing with a tsunami of claims unlike anything that has ever been encountered or dreamed of. And yes, there is a problem. But the possibility that people within the system are submitting false claims like this is very unlikely. In the first place, when one begins there, they'd lack the expertise to do it efficiently. And the other employees would pick up on what this particular person was doing VERY quickly, And there would go your job, and very likely there would be criminal prosecution. If there's one thing the agency doesn't care for, it's people within the system trying to commit fraud on the system. People who work in the system have seen sixty million social security numbers and drivers licences and other forms of ID. They have very private information about everyone who files a claim at their disposal. But as I said, it wouldn't be worth it to try to supplement their wages by perpetuating fraud.

Most of the people who were there before the pandemic (like this supervisor you spoke with) are career civil service employees. Once you have invested several years of your life in an agency, with anticipation of another series of years at a secure job which will end up with a pension, you don't tend to piddle it away with a quickie scheme to get rich quick with a bunch of faked unemployment claims. Frankly, they're just not that much money, even if you were getting that additional $800 a week there for a very short while.

It is a shame that you didn't get the supervisor's name and number. But have you been able to make weekly certifications on your claim again since that time? If so, keep doing it. If not, keep shaking the trees. Your claim was put on hold because there was some irregularity that the system needed to deal with, not because you're necessarily being used in some fraud scheme. Your ID has been taken, in as they requested and the situation should be getting resolved. Keep pressing them.
 
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quincy

Senior Member
Here is a link to a North Carolina ABC11 August 2020 report on North Carolina problems with the unemployment system and getting claims processed:

https://abc11.com/nc-unemployment-400-north-carolina-benefits/6368758/

Because what you have tried so far has not led to any relief, Lllly702, what you might want to do is contact your local news “troubleshooter” or “call for action” reporters and see if they can help you get results. It appears to have worked for those featured in the article.
 

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