OHIO, USA — Ohio has started issuing weekly $300 Federal Pandemic Unemployment compensation payments for those eligible following a new system programing update.
At the same time, The Ohio Department of Job and Family services will be issuing nearly $2 million 1099-G tax forms throughout the month of January.
This is a federal law that requires you to report any unemployment benefits you may have received.
ODJFS says there will be a number of Ohioans who receive a form in the mail stating that they've received unemployment benefits in 2020, when in fact they did not.
Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted are among those in the state who have had false claims filed in their names.
So many fake jobless claims have been filed that state officials are now checking on every single one to make sure it's real, which could impact those of you who are making legitimate claims.
"It takes a little longer to track this down because, well, to help people get access to the unemployment compensation, because we've had so many false claims, they have to track every single one of them down to make sure it's legitimate, which adds time," explained Husted.
ODJFS has created a new online portal you can use to notify the agency if you believe your identity was stolen and used to file a fake unemployment claim.
To access that portal, follow this link: unemploymenthelp.ohio.gov.