State makes gains against false jobless claims but troubles persist for many seeking aid
State unemployment officials on Thursday announced progress in speeding up payments to those who’ve sought aid during the pandemic, but the agency is still facing criticism from many claimants over delayed payments.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than a million people have filed unemployment claims with the state, with 807,071 individuals who have filed an initial claim having received their benefits, according to figures released Thursday by the state Employment Security Department.
Fraud investigations into a massive load of false filings coupled with a massive influx of new claims since March has led to problems across the system.
The state has recovered an estimated $300 million in fraudulent claims and expected to receive $50 million more Thursday in recovery efforts after “strong collaboration with federal law enforcement, our banks and financial institutions across the United States,” according to ESD Commissioner Suzi LeVine.
Amid the stricter vetting of claims, a 68 percent drop in new initial claims from the previous week was reported Thursday.
At the same time, legitimate claimants have seen their payments either delayed or stopped altogether, awaiting an ID check or other review.
About 45,000 were still in adjudication as of May 26, according to figures ESD released Thursday.
PROGRESS, BUT MANY STILL WAITING
On Thursday, LeVine told reporters that the department on Wednesday alone had bulk-cleared 55,000 claims “based on insights we’ve gained” in separating fraudulent claims from legitimate ones.
“The dramatic decline in initial claims this week is a strong signal that the additional steps we are taking to address imposter fraud are working. We’ve already recovered and stopped the payments of hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent claims in the past two weeks, and we will continue to reclaim every dollar we can,” she said in a statement issued Thursday.
She expects another large portion of claims now tied up in either regular adjudication or ID verification adjudication would be cleared out over the weekend.
For the ones still waiting, patience and options are running thin at this point.
Steve Weaver waited nine weeks for unemployment benefits.
He is living out of his car in Olympia and spends his days working for DoorDash, protesting the Employment Security Department or connecting with Washingtonians in similar situations on Facebook.
Weaver joined the Washington State Unemployment Support Facebook group, where nearly 8,000 other members have found solace in talking about their issues filing for unemployment during the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s brought me a sense of not being alone,” he said.
When Andrew Goetz was furloughed in April, he applied for unemployment but his claim was denied. He went searching for help after several unanswered phone calls and messages, only to find hundreds of comments on the Employment Security Department’s Facebook page.
Goetz realized he wasn’t alone.
In mid-April, he created the Washington State Unemployment Support page as a space for people with similar issues to talk about the process to receive unemployment.
The social media group has become a community for those struggling to get unemployment. Weaver said he has found support among the members, both financially and emotionally.
“It’s that sense of community. It’s that sense of people being somewhere where people care about each other,” Weaver said. “We know that America is so polarized – more than it’s ever been – and people continue to support each other despite being on different sides of the political spectrum.”
Some have shared fundraising posts and personal stories of their hardship. The members provide encouragement to keep trying when someone has become hopeless, Goetz said.
“Some have reached their end after weeks and some people are there to lift them up and find a solution and offer that support,” he said. “There’s a lot of celebration when people are able to secure their financial situation.”
And it’s not the only site offering advice. Another Facebook group, Pierce County Restaurant Workers Unemployment Information, is devoted to helping workers find similar support for its 900 members.
“I just wanted to take a few minutes and express how nice this page has been for me,” wrote one member of the group. “Almost without exception people have been nice to each other, provide help and support, and give the other the benefit of the doubt when meaning can sometimes be hard to grasp over this type of platform.”
LeVine on Thursday said filers needed to routinely check their accounts and the department’s website for the most accurate information and updates.
“Look out for all the emails and notifications and only take action on those from ESD.”
CALLS FOR CHANGE
Others have stepped in to give a collective voice to claimants’ frustrations with ESD.
Working Washington, a labor, equity and wages advocacy group for workers, has an ongoing signature drive for an open letter demanding that changes be made to make the process go faster for those needing assistance. So far, more than 1,000 have signed it along with several unions and advocacy groups.
Working Washington noted in an online post this week that even before the imposter fraud challenges it now faces, the state system was falling far short in getting payments out.
“ESD committed to working through the adjudication backlog they faced in May by mid-June — three full months since the crisis hit. Now, ESD’s handling of the fraud wave is throwing thousands of workers back into the adjudication process, or inexplicably halting their payments, with no promise of when — or if — they will be paid,” the group wrote.
LeVine said the department was still on track with its “Operation 100 Percent” to get all claimants who were still waiting for their first payments at the start of May to be resolved by mid-June.
ESD blames delays on the massive influx of initial claims filed because of the pandemic and the massive amount of fraudulent claims targeting not just Washington but other states.
A Nigerian fraud operation known as “Scattered Canary” is being investigated as at least one potential source of the false claims. It is not known yet the total number of false filings made.
Pierce County entities were particularly hard hit with fraudulent claims, with the City of Tacoma alone reporting more than 300 suspected fraudulent claims detected among its employees as of last week.
Some targeted by the fraud remain critical of the department’s efforts and believe stronger measures should have been in place long before the discovery.
“In my case, the person involved used my former name, changed 3 years ago — not my legal name. They also used an email ending with @yopmail. A domain that is temporary, and often used for illegal activities,” one ID theft victim wrote The News Tribune last week.
“Could not the state of Washington not have put a flag on an account if one signs up for government benefits with an email that disappears within a few hours? Isn’t this learned in a basic coding class?” the woman added.
LeVine contended Thursday that the state “had a lot of measures in place,” early on.
“This was a sophisticated, criminal act,” she noted, hitting the state first among others as it was also among the first to roll out the expanded benefits under the federal CARES Act.
“People are looking for a silver bullet, and that silver bullet is COVID-19,” she said, in terms of the velocity and volume of claims.
She said the department was now working on giving claimants now in limbo a more definitive timeline for claim resolution, adding they’ve also brought on hundreds of additional workers and expect to bulk clear “tens of thousands” of claims by the end of the week.
“We are working hard to better clarify communication ... and looking at ways we can better communicate to keep people up to date with the status of their claims,” she said.
TNT reporter Kristine Sherred contributed to this report.
This story was originally published May 28, 2020 at 4:29 PM with the headline "State makes gains against false jobless claims but troubles persist for many seeking aid."
