California’s EDD still grappling with 1.2 million worth of fraudulent claims

(The Center Square) – The California Employment Development Department (EDD) is having difficulty verifying the identity of roughly 1.2 million people it paid unemployment benefits to after being linked to potentially fraudulent claims that were filed last year.

The news came as California’s unemployment claims reached their highest level in three months, surpassing 900,000.

In a statement, the agency responsible for overseeing unemployment claims said it still hasn’t validated the identities of 1.2 million people connected to potentially fraudulent claims filed, processed and paid for by taxpayer dollars. These claims account for 86 percent of 1.4 million accounts that the state has suspended due to fraud investigations.

Roughly 200,000 people out of 1.4 million whose accounts were flagged for fraud have been instructed to fill out a questionnaire to determine their eligibility. Some are being told their claims have been disqualified.

The EDD has not made public how many of the 1.4 million claims it has suspended are fraudulent or legitimate.

As of Jan. 20, the EDD reports a backlog of 941,020 unemployment claims not processed, an increase of 130,270 from Jan. 13’s backlog of 810,750, according to EDD’s dashboard.

The backlog includes initial unemployment claims and continuing claims. There are 916,530 initial unemployment claims filed by first-time filers for unemployment benefits. These individuals have been waiting more than 21 days to find out from the state if they qualify to receive their first payment or if they don’t qualify at all.

There are 24,490 continuing claims filed by individuals who have received at least one payment and have been waiting more than 21 days to receive another payment or learn that they do not qualify for additional payments.

Last fall, EDD implemented a new identity verification system, called ID.me. Claimants have 30 days to verify their identity with ID.me. If they don’t, they will have to refile as a new claimant.

Initially, the time period was 10 days. The extension was implemented “to provide claimants ample opportunity to validate their identities before an EDD notice of disqualification is issued,” EDD states. “As claimants have their identity verified, EDD is removing barriers on claims so payments can continue for legitimate claimants within a matter of days.”

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