Missing EDD money? Here's why you should transfer funds to your own bank account

Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Why you should transfer unemployment payments to your own bank

A recipient of unemployment benefits thought that his funds would be secure sitting in his EDD account -- but thieves soon found their way in.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The scams surrounding the Employment Development Department's unemployment benefits just don't seem to stop.

This is Connie Lloyd and her husband Nicholas. He had received payments from EDD and since not all of the money was needed, he used his EDD account like a bank account and just left the money sitting there.

Connie Lloyd explained their thinking. "It's just another bank, it should be fine. We never touched it. You could see, like on some of the transaction histories. The most we've spent on is like $50," she said.

But after a while, Nicholas spotted a problem. "I checked the my card balance and it showed $52, and there should have been over like five grand in there," he said.

MORE: EDD takes tax refund, garnishes wages of man who reported unemployment fraud in his name

Nicholas contacted the bank and received a letter that said in part: "We found that the transaction was made by someone you authorized." They would get no money back.

While still dealing with Bank of America, the Lloyds reached out to 7 On Your Side. "Within three days they had called us and told us that yes, they were going to re-issue the balance," she said.

When asked if they received the funds, she replied, "Yes, yes, thank God. Yeah, thank God, lifesaver."

7 On Your Side reached out to the bank and were told anyone may ask for a second review: "Consistent with our longstanding policy, if someone disagrees with our decision from our initial review they can ask for reconsideration and submit any additional information available."

The big lesson here is to move your money out of the EDD accounts and into a bank account as soon possible.

Take a look at more stories and videos by Michael Finney and 7 On Your Side.

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