Scam victims can now ask Ohio to reimburse funds
COLUMBUS — Thousands of Ohioans whose unemployment benefits accounts were hijacked by scammers can now ask the state to replace the money they’re owed, state officials announced Wednesday.
In addition, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services will start processing about 155,000 applications from Ohioans who want a waiver from having to repay unemployment benefits they say they were mistakenly overpaid.
Residents who believe their accounts were taken over and their unemployment payments rerouted should call 1-877-644-6562 to request reimbursement, according to a release from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. After calling, the state will then send affidavits for those people to sign (in the presence of a notary public) attesting that they didn’t receive the jobless benefits they were due. The affidavits must then be returned to OD JFS via email, fax, the U.S. mail, or by emailing a scan or photograph of the document.
OD JFS staff members will then individually review and decide whether to grant payment for each requested week of reimbursement, the release stated. When requests are denied, state workers will send information on how those applicants can appeal.
There is no estimate on how long it will take to process reimbursement requests and send money, according to the release.
It’s taken months for state unemployment officials to set up the reimbursement program. Unemployment officials didn’t even begin to set up the program until earlier this year, on the grounds that the U.S. Department of Labor didn’t explicitly say until a couple of months ago that state unemployment programs could do such a thing (though the feds never said states couldn’t reimburse victims).
OD JFS has repeatedly denied that scammers gained access to people’s accounts by hacking into the state’s unemployment computer system. Rather, department spokesman Bill Teets previously said, when accounts have been taken over, it’s been because criminals have obtained victims’ login information through various means, including sending phishing emails.
It’s unclear how many Ohioans have had their accounts hijacked. However, OD JFS said Wednesday it is reaching out to 3,100 people with suspicious account activity asking them to make sure they haven’t had their accounts taken over.
Ohio, like other states, has been targeted during the pandemic by scammers, many of whom are from other countries such as Nigeria. In recent weeks, even more Ohioans have discovered they were targeted by unemployment scammers when they unexpectedly received a letter at their address with an unfamiliar name on it. Unemployment officials have now set up a new online form specifically for people who have received such letters to report them.
As of May, the state paid more than $460 million in traditional or federal pandemic jobless benefits to scammers, OD JFS Director Matt Damschroder said at the time.
Wednesday’s release also stated that the state’s unemployment system will finally begin processing applications to waive repayment of jobless benefits sent in error.
During the initial months of the coronavirus pandemic, as business closures and stay-at-home orders led to an unprecedented deluge of unemployment claims, tens of thousands of Ohioans were told they had to repay the state for benefits they were mistakenly given either because of an error by state officials or their employers.
Damschroder said in July he understood “the hardship that overpayments cause during what is already a stressful time.”
Ohioans who received overpayments have been told to wait to receive a notification about applying for a waiver, rather than reach out to OD JFS proactively.
Ohio’s unemployment system, which was teetering on insolvency for years, has come under unprecedented stress since the COVID-19 crisis led to a tsunami of benefits claims – from 7,000 per week just before the pandemic hit to 275,000 two weeks later.
Large numbers of Ohioans waited weeks or even months to get benefits, and the state’s unemployment call center was overwhelmed, leading many residents to have to wait on hold for hours or being unable to reach anyone at all.