JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — "Not a hack." That’s the word from the state Department of Economic Opportunity when asked about what many considered a suspect request for a password or PIN reset.
The On Your Side team reached out to DEO after getting several messages from recipients of the email. One email provided a temporary PIN and asked recipients to log in using that PIN, then provide a slew of new information, including bank information.
Another message provided a “verification code” and asked recipients to use that code to reset their passwords.
“To reset your password, enter the verification code below on the Reset Password screen,” the email instructed. “You must then enter a new password on the next screen, and re-enter the new password to verify that you have typed it correctly.”
According to DEO spokesperson Paige Landrum, “The is [sic] an email from the agency. As the agency has previously mentioned, we are reaching out to individuals who applied via paper or the mobile friendly application. This email is to deliver them their temporary PIN in order to access the CONNECT system and is extremely important for this person to collect their benefits.”
First Coast News was alerted to the email by a viewer who opined, “The DEO website has been hacked. It sent out an email to all the unemployed applicants today with false information.”
The viewer noted that she is “part of a Facebook group of over one thousand. We have all concluded this must be a scam and way to lock us out of the system. This ‘temporary pin’ does not work and will lock you out. I applied in mid March and this is the first time they have ever emailed me. (Still waiting to be approved for even a cent).”
It’s perhaps not surprising that recipients are skeptical given the overwhelming and well documented failures of the state unemployment benefits system. First Coast News has received thousands of calls and emails from frustrated and desperate people trapped in the Unemployment Maze, and reported dozens of related stories over the past several weeks.
The computer system has been a particular bugaboo, with Gov. Ron DeSantis dubbing it a “clunker” and a “jalopy.” And the state call center is so swamped even the man hand-picked to fix it, Jonathan Satter, agreed it was all but impossible to penetrate.
At a press conference with Gov. DeSantis on Tuesday, Satter advised callers trying to make contact to aim for late afternoon, when call volume slows. Even then, Satter said, they should be prepared to sit on the phone for an hour and a half. That's about the average wait time -- one hour and 39 minutes -- to get through to DEO.
The agency has received 15 million calls since March 15 and, Satter noted, "We haven't gotten to most of them. It's upsetting to me as it is upsetting to callers.”
