NC unemployment overpayment notices surprise, upset residents
Citizen receives unemployment overpayment notice By Ann McAdams | February 1, 2021 at 11:19 AM EST - Updated February 1 at 7:41 PM
NEW HANOVER COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) - Months after she first applied for benefits, Ellen O’Malley got her first unemployment check. Almost immediately, she received a notice in the mail from the Department of Employment Security (DES) that she’d been overpaid. The displaced library worker was confused, since she’d turned in all the required paperwork, and was notified she was qualified and approved for unemployment assistance.
“It think the most frustrating thing is that you can’t talk to a person,” O’Malley said about the confusing process of applying and receiving benefits, only to have them revoked. “I realize they are overwhelmed, there’s a lot of people [applying], but when you get someone on the phone and they say, ‘Yes, it’s fine,’ and then you have this mone
CHICAGO State and federal officials are encouraging Illinoisans to stay vigilant as reports of unemployment insurance fraud swell.
From the onset of coronavirus pandemic, fraudulent claims have been an issue as a record number of Illinois residents file for benefits and Congress provides additional jobless aid. Illinois has stopped more than 350,000 fraudulent claims since March 1, according to the state’s Department of Employment Security.
Reports of fraud have been so widespread often inundating local police departments that the FBI, IRS and several state agencies launched a task force to tackle the problem.
The Illinois Attorney General’s office has received more than 1,400 complaints since June from people who allege someone else filed an unemployment insurance claim in their name, spokeswoman Tori Joseph said.
The Illinois Attorney General’s office has received more than 1,400 complaints since June from people who allege someone else filed an unemployment insurance claim in their name.