Earlier today during a town hall, the Labor Department noted of a possible extension of fraud scams that are now hurting more claimants. 

Some people had complained of not getting their direct deposit payments for the past few weeks, even after receiving some payments normally before. 

After review, it was found that some PUA fraudsters were using personal information, including mailing addresses, of some individuals who had been receiving UC and PEUC benefits. 

The fraudsters, according to L&I, filed PUA claims under a claimants name and information. Once the fake claim was approved, the unemployment system would accidentally overwrite the correct information, meaning any payments would then be directed towards the people attempting to commit fraud. 

UC Benefits Policy Director Susan Dickinson is encouraging anyone who has not seen payments made in their normal time frame to make sure the payments were not sent: "Check online where you can see your most recent payments made", she said. 

"If the payments were made, and you didn't receive them yet after your standard amount of time, usually 2-3 days later, you could be a victim of the PUA fraud."

Dickinson went on to say there could be other reasons why payments are being held up, such as an issue on someones claim.

If this is the case, payments are most likely not made until the issue is resolved. You will be able to see this on your dashboard. 

The Labor Department also outlined the launch of the Extended Benefits Program. This 9-13 week extension only becomes available during a financial crisis, of which COVID-19 is considered. 

Claimants must first exhaust both their regular UC benefits and the 13 week extension, otherwise known as PEUC. 

Once both programs have been exhausted, the department will send a financial determination to you within 2-3 business days. 

If approved, a claimant will receive additional benefit weeks equal to half the number of weeks they were previously allotted. For example, if a claimant was given the full 26 weeks of benefits to begin with, they would receive 13 weeks of benefits through the new program. 

Individuals will file as they normally would for regular UC benefits under the same online platform and will be given the option to file for the most recent weeks available. 

The FPUC program, which includes the additional $600 per week, will be attached to the Extended Benefits Program as well, until the week ending July 25th, when FPUC ends for all claimants. 

This story was supported by the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.