Okay, first of all, there is a unit in all state unemployment systems that audits a certain number of claims per month, whether any fraud or wrongdoing is suspected. They do, say one out of every ten claims, chosen randomly, and send them a letter that says they have selected your claim for examination. You are asked to respond to this specific person listed, and they'll go over every aspect of your claim, and determine if the law was followed in every way. This may be what has happened in your case. If so there is absolutely nothing to worry about, they'll take care of it as they do every day of the week. No weekends, of course.
Even if you are afraid there was some overpayment involved, you may be wrong. The important thing is, for what week was the paycheck that you received? If it was for work done in a Sunday through Saturday week in which you did not certify for unemployment benefits, you were not overpaid. When you received the money is not the relevant issue here. It will be when you did the work that you were paid for.
All unemployment benefits are calculated from midnight Sunday to midnight Saturday, regardless of when or how or how much you are paid for them. If you were off work, had been off work for a week, and received a paycheck for work that you had done before that week in the same week you received an unemployment check, you are not overpaid. They aren't measuring how many checks you get a week, they're figuring whether you told the truth when you certified for the week, answering "Did you do any work this week for which you were paid, or will be paid?"
But let them work it through. There is no benefit whatsoever in trying to reach the system this weekend. You will need to talk SPECIFICALLY to the people who sent you the notice, not the random person you might get or the automated system, and get this situation resolved with them. They are the ones who sent you the letter, and they are the ones who are looking at your case.
Admitting you did it or not admitting it is not valid. You either did it or you did not. And they will have records, from the payroll records of the employer involved, to determine exactly what you have received, for what hours it was paid, and how much unemployment you received during that time, and what you told the unemployment system in regard to your work for that week.
Let them tell you if there is an overpayment, and how much you owe, if there is. If it was determined to be a "mistake" overpayment, could be attributed to innocent stupidity, as in you did not understand or were not aware of having to report this money, you may only have to repay the amount you were overpaid, without penalties. If it was a deliberate effort to trick the system, if you flat out lied about the week you certified for, and whether you had worked in that week, then it will probably involve some penalties. Since they are not a "Check to cash" deal, they can't just let you cheat them and then pay it back later when you have the money available without penalties.
The chances of them prosecuting you criminally for being overpaid one week are very very very slim. But do return their call, and get it straightened out next week. This just goes to prove what I always say, they will catch you, the system is set up so they will always catch you, and there's nothing clever about doing it, no way you can claim you didn't if you did.
