Ohioans who lost money when their unemployment accounts were taken over by scammers can start applying to get that money back on Friday.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services will reach out to 3,100 claimants who may have been victims, but there’s no estimate on how many people there might be.
The state said its computers weren’t hacked but has said criminals got unauthorized access to accounts and changed the banking information to reroute and steal the money.
ODJFS Director Matt Damschroder called account takeovers "something new" in an interview for "The State of Ohio" in August.
"We've identified technology that we have put in place that we believe has reduced and mitigated that activity," he said. "But certainly we want to make sure that there's a process in place and are building the technology again for our systems, and for individuals who did experience an account takeover to be able to apply and be made whole."
People whose unemployment benefits accounts were taken over can call 877-644-6562. Affidavits will be mailed, which need to be filled out, notarized and emailed, faxed or mailed back.
There's also some long-awaited movement on the question of how people who got non-fraudulent overpayments of unemployment benefits can avoid having to pay that money back, since it was sent to them through no fault of their own.
The state will start processing requests from people who got a share of $3 billion in non-fraudulent overpayments who have asked to be excused from paying back that extra money.
Many of those who got the overpayments and are still receiving benefits or have applied for new jobless benefits are seeing those checks reduced or stopped so the overpaid funds can be paid back. Damschroder said last month that's "a function of the law and the program design," though he added he knows that's "an unsatisfactory answer."
Seven Hundred Thousand Ohioans got the overpayments, but only 155,000, or around 22%, have applied for waivers to avoid paying that money back. The processing of those waivers also starts Friday.
There hasn't been any movement on the lawsuit that seeks to bring back the $300 weekly checks to unemployed Ohioans.
The program to send out those checks ended on Labor Day. While the Biden administration said it wouldn't extend the program, it's suggested states that have high unemployment use federal funds to provide those checks.
Former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann has filed suit against the state's decision to end its participation in the program in late June. Dann said the cases he filed have been consolidated by a Franklin County judge, and he's hoping the Ohio Supreme Court will take the case.
Dann has argued that Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine didn't have the authority from lawmakers to refuse the maximum jobless benefits offered by the federal government. The state has said Dann's reading of the law is wrong.
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