JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Thousands of unemployed Floridians are hitting yet another roadblock as many say they can’t access their accounts to request any benefits.
“I got the same error message saying I attempted too many times to log in, but I only attempted once,” said Stephanie Taylor who is currently unemployed and in the hospital. “I’m stuck in here so it’s just like one thing after another.”
If Taylor can’t get past this glitch and access her payments, she says she has more worries than just her injuries.
“My car insurance then my rent is late as well,” Taylor said.
This is the message Taylor and thousands of others are seeing.
The error message states they attempted to login in too many times and their pins need to be reset.
The Department Of Economic Opportunity said due to cyber attacks, many claimants are being required to reset their pins.
Unemployment advocate Vanessa Brito said the problem is, when trying to reset their pin, it loops them back to the homepage.
Brito said she’s received thousands of messages and Facebook comments from people struggling with this issue.
DEO adds that claimants will receive an email from DEO to access a verification tool to access their accounts.
“DEO Verify is now available for claimants to verify their identity to access their account,” The Department said in a press release. “Claimants will receive email notification from the Department to access this verification tool. Claimants are encouraged to check their spam and junk mailboxes for notifications from the Department.
Leah Ploumis, who no longer collects benefits, but wants to make sure her personal information is safe after the cyberattacks, says she never received an email.
“It’s just difficult and frustrating for a lot of people,”
First Coast News told DEO that not all claimants needing to reset PINs are receiving emails from the department with a link to “DEO Verify.”
The Department asked for claimant IDs of people who didn’t receive emails. FCN was able to collect more than 200 claimants in less than two hours who didn’t receive emails. These claimant IDs were provided to DEO.
Brito recommends in addition to trying to contact DEO, call or visit your local career source, as the agency has the ability to reset pins as well.