Sunshine Sentinel

Florida has filed approximately $2 billion in fraudulent payments through the Department of Economic Opportunity, in addition to various cases of identity theft and fraud, according to ABC Action News in Tampa. The alarming record was overpowered, however, by the state’s high success rate detecting the unlawful claims, likely avoiding $11.2 billion in unemployment fraud attempts.

“It’s well known that this fraud is happening internationally and in other state," Sen. Linda Stewart (D-Orange County) said. “People’s names are being confiscated when that happens everything gets locked up.”

The Sunshine State’s losses constituted only 2.2% of nationwide fraudulent payments, less than the projected figure for one of the country’s most populous states, ABC Action News reported. The DEO has advised the public of various strategies to further prevent illegal unemployment claims, such as reporting all suspicious incidents to the three major credit card companies, Equifax, Experian and Transunion, as well as setting up a fraud alert to be notified of any suspicious activity and following up with local law enforcement.

With more than 727,000 claimants, fraud complaints have surged across the state, creating a backlog for the agency, News 6 Orlando reported. Although Florida officials have been credited with demonstrating diligent efforts to prevent unemployment insurance fraud, the claims resulted in 272,000 innocent unemployment account lockouts, and thousands of Floridians left without access to their rightful benefits.

In addition, one Floridian's communication efforts to contact the DEO went unnoticed. When she called the department, she was greeted with an automated message stating all lines were busy. It persisted throughout the day, ABC Action News in Tampa reported.

“Literally, you can do it from the time that it’s open until the time it’s done and you don’t get anybody,” frustrated Christina Long said after her credit card information was swapped for someone else’s.

To resolve any fraudulent matters, DEO Deputy Director of Communications Trip Farmer recommended the online portal for claimants and employers, the Reemployment Assistance Help Center.

“This online resource continues to be updated with additional features for claimants and employers to notify DEO of instances of Reemployment Assistance fraud or identity theft, Farmer told News 6 Orlando, stating that it will “provide documentation to DEO, and houses several resourceful materials for claimants or employers who have additional questions.”

Stewart revealed that the development of a new verification system is underway and will soon be introduced on the DEO’s site, featuring a drop-down verification menu to facilitate recipient's ability to “get back in line to get their money back.”