Fraud stops thousands of Rhode Islanders from collecting unemployment payments

Thousands of Rhode Islanders, who haven’t seen their unemployment payments in weeks, are feeling helpless.

Many are taking to a private Facebook group, aimed at allowing Rhode Islanders to express their frustrations and share tips. People who have been approved for unemployment and were receiving their benefits suddenly stopped getting their payments.

A majority of people are saying they are getting conflicting answers as to why their accounts were frozen.

According to Scott Jensen, the Director of the Department of Labor and Training, the majority of accounts have been frozen as part of the federal and state investigation into fraudulent unemployment claims.

“The job is to figure out who is a legitimate person and who isn’t and the fraudsters don’t make that easy,” Jensen said.

Jensen did not have a specific number but said the number of people affected is in the thousands.  He said this fraud isn’t being perpetrated by Rhode Islanders but people posing as them.

Without commenting on the investigation, he said he expects in the next week many of these accounts will be unfrozen.

“People are on the investigation 24/7 and I think we’ll be in a much better spot in the coming days,” Jensen said. “We are going to catch these people,” Jensen said. “Boy oh boy do I feel the challenge to get these people the money they need because they deserve it. I know it’s hard but bear with us we are going to get through this.”

Those in the Facebook group say what’s making the situation worse for those stuck waiting, is that they haven’t been able to get in touch with anyone for weeks.

Jensen said the state has tripled the number of people answering phones and they are continuing to ramp up staffing.

“Just this week we are hiring another 20 people so we’ll go up to four times as more people answering phone calls,” Jensen said. “We are going to do everything we can do to get you the funds you need.”

Although many say they haven’t gotten a response in weeks, the DLT says if you received a payment in the past and it’s stopped, the best thing to do is fill out the online inquiry form.

Jensen also says it does not matter what bank you use or how you receive your payments, for the most part, it’s first-come, first-serve.

Those who have not received their payments, will receive a back pay, according to Jensen.

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