Oklahoma Victim Of Unemployment Fraud Deals With Nearly Year-Long Investigation

A lot of Oklahomans had someone use their name to file fake unemployment claims.

Now, those victims have been waiting months to get the fraudulent case cleared up so they can receive the unemployment benefits they so desperately need.

Vanessa Hicks said the scammer who filed for unemployment using her information will never know the stress and heartache they caused. 

“It felt like I had this victim mentality of like okay great it’s over, but I don’t know if I have the trust in my state anymore," said Vanessa Hicks. 

Hicks sent dozens of emails to the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission. The bills began to pile up while she waited for the fraudulent claim to be cleared. Hicks and her family began calling and writing lawmakers for help. 

“I would say between all of us, at least 50 just reaching out occasionally making it a monthly reach out like here we are; we’re still having the same issue," said Hicks.

Hicks' mother in-law heard back from an Oklahoma State Senator, and Hicks' luck began to change. 

“We are always working on streamlining our system such that responses go out quickly so that constituent knows yes this is being handled your state senator is in contact with OESC and we are going to get this done as quickly as possible," said Senator Jo Anna Dossett.

Senator Dossett and Hicks have the same advice for anyone waiting on fraudulent claims to be resolved. 

“It’s really discouraging, and it can be really overwhelming. You feel like you’re not getting anywhere. It feels like the system has failed you, but you have to be your own best advocate. You have to speak out to your legislatures to let them know that the system is not working for their constituents," said Hicks. 

She said it took about two weeks after contacting a state senator that she began receiving backpay of unemployment from last year.

She said she immediately began paying off her bills. 

OESC's Executive Director Shelley Zumwalt said:

"OESC is not able to discuss details regarding fraudulent claims, however, we can confirm that OESC works closely with state legislative offices to provide resolution for constituents. In addition, our dedicated fraud department reviews each case flagged as fraudulent and does a deep investigation into each case. If a claimant has not heard back on their fraud case, OESC’s fraud department is likely still working to find a resolution. Most fraud cases are resolved within about 10 business days from when the fraud was reported. However, times may vary depending on the depth of the fraud investigation. The process for dealing with fraud has dramatically changed since the start of the pandemic -- OESC has significantly increased our staff, and our fraud recovery timeline has been reduced from an average of 12 weeks to an average of about 10 days. Claimants can call our call centers M-F from 7:30 a.m.-7 p.m. to check on the status of their claim."