Became a citizen, received 4 letters about Unemployment Insurance
 

So Weeze and I became citizens on the 15th June. Yesterday (22nd June) I received 4 letters from the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). They are:

1) A cover letter that states “TWC sends this UI Benefits Information handbook and other material to everyone who applies for UI benefits.” - date mailed 16th June
2) A notice of work search requirements, stating I have to make 0 weekly contacts, effective 21st June. Noted as mailed 16th June
3) Instructions for requesting benefit payments, with a first filing date of 6-30-20. Noted as mailed 16th June.
4) A Statement of Wages and Potential Benefits Amounts. Basically a statement of my income for the 2019 and stating what benefits I would be entitled to.

It is addressed to me, with my address, and the last 4 digits of my social showing.

I am employed, with the same employer I have been with since moving to the USA in 2010. I have not filled out any paperwork or claims for UI benefits.

The phone number is obviously crazy busy with people legitimately seeking benefits, so I am unable to talk to anyone to clarify.

Is this normal when becoming a USC, in TX?

Re: Became a citizen, received 4 letters about Unemployment Insurance
 

Seems strange, it could well be identity theft so I think you should try and follow up.

It's been a major issue in the pandemic - criminals flooding states with claims using stolen identities and hoping they'd slip through the net because of the sheer volume of claims.

Re: Became a citizen, received 4 letters about Unemployment Insurance
 

I’ve had the attempt at ID theft last year, my credit is locked up tighter than a “insert metaphor of choice”. I find it being 1 day after my ceremony overly coincidental. But I also know all states work differently at many levels, so am wondering if this is a Texas thing.

I would love to speak to someone at TWC to confirm, and the internet in general was useless on this subject, so this is part of me doing research.

Re: Became a citizen, received 4 letters about Unemployment Insurance
 

Re: Became a citizen, received 4 letters about Unemployment Insurance
 

Congratulations on becoming a USC!
My son naturalized at the end of February and has not received anything at all from TWC.

I would report this to TWC as possible fraud.

Re: Became a citizen, received 4 letters about Unemployment Insurance
 

2 things seem off:
- in NY at least UI is insurance not a gov benefit so it’s GC as well as USC.
- if it was tied to Citizenship I can’t believe they would turn it around in 1 day.... so sounds more like a fraud attempt. Are you able to register on the state website to see if someone already registered with your SSN. In NY it’s the same site for Tax and other services and has a menu item for UI.

Re: Became a citizen, received 4 letters about Unemployment Insurance
 

Is your son working? Weeze is not, and didn’t receive anything.

The fraud line just sends you to a voice mailbox with no instructions on what to leave. There is an e-mail address on the TWC site, but who knows how many go to that too. As it stands, that’s about all I can do.

Re: Became a citizen, received 4 letters about Unemployment Insurance
 

You get the information that Weeze has received once you have created an account with TWC and put in your information to make a claim. I've recently done this but I gave them an email address so everything got sent electronically.
So, a claim has almost definitely been made using your name/ssn/private address. Phone/email them now to report this. See if you can log on/create an account at twc ( probably can't since your ssn has already been used) and have a look to see what is going on. Either way, report it.

Re: Became a citizen, received 4 letters about Unemployment Insurance
 

Yes, I can’t make an account. There is already a PIN. They won’t have been able to do it before citizenship because they won’t have had my alien registration number.

It’s reported by e-mail, but I am not optimistic at being able to speak to someone on the phone.

Re: Became a citizen, received 4 letters about Unemployment Insurance
 

it's really odd that it happened right after your naturalization. I wonder if that was just pure coincidence. Luckily you received the stuff in the mail because if they'd put in an email address, you wouldn't have known until next year when you do your taxes ( I'm assuming the twc will send something like a 1099) since it is a taxable income.

Re: Became a citizen, received 4 letters about Unemployment Insurance
 

I agree with these - the letters aren't obviously linked to citizenship, and I think it is probably a bizarre coincidence as the turn around time is so short, too short IMO, like Tht said.

Re: Became a citizen, received 4 letters about Unemployment Insurance
 

You can apply online, and request payment online, at least in Texas. I suspect that might be what is going on. Before becoming a USC the lack of an alien number may have prevented any successful attempt.

I can create a user ID, I just can’t associate it with my SSN as there is already a PIN. I’m attempting to get control of that PIN at this point.

Re: Became a citizen, received 4 letters about Unemployment Insurance
 

I disagree - I have just gone through the claim procedure for unemployment. From my understanding - the twc will check your 2019 income from your filed tax information. You don't need to upload anything else. If they decide that you are not eligible for regular unemployment but you are eligible for pandemic payment of $600 pw, then you automatically get allocated the $600 and it can be paid directly into your bank account. From what I have been hearing, it's taking weeks to process claims and make payments and I can only assume that some fraudulent claims will get through before all checks are done.

Re: Became a citizen, received 4 letters about Unemployment Insurance
 

Well I have reset the PIN, but I’m not really sure what is to prevent someone doing that again. You only need to know the info that was already known to be able to do that. I’m hoping one of the fraud line (someone will be in touch within 48 hours) or the e-mail to report it help. I also hate that I am having to tie up resources that could be used to process legitimate claims.

Re: Became a citizen, received 4 letters about Unemployment Insurance
 

Disagree with what? ;)