Posted on 01/08/26
| News Source: FOX45
Baltimore, MD - Jan. 8, 2026 Across the state, Marylanders are receiving letters stating they owe money for overpaid unemployment insurance benefits. However, some residents are responding, saying they are victims of fraud.
Cockeysville resident Gina Cross received one of the letters from the Maryland Department of Labor, stating she owed $254 in unemployment overpayments from a claim filed in 2021. However, she said she has never filed an unemployment claim, and has been employed the whole time.
"Please fix this," Cross said. "Obviously there's a disconnect between who you think owes money and fraudulent applications, but they need to take time and sit down and look at everything that's fraudulent."
She said years ago, her identity was stolen. While she has taken a number of fraud prevention steps, in 2021 she found out someone made a claim in her name. Emails from 2021 show the officials with the Department of Labor marked the claim as fraudulent and removed her information from the claim. However, she in December of 2025, she received another letter about the overpayment.
"I'm like not again because I got this four years ago and it was supposedly resolved," Cross said.
Another resident received an overpayment letter totaling $2,328.
"It's just the principle of it, that the fact they just sent this money out the door. I put all these protections on my credit and they just sent money out the door in my name and then they are expecting me to pay them back," Cross said.
In a statement, the Department of Labor said they are "in the process of addressing a backlog of unemployment insurance overpayments from prior years that were not pursued by the previous administration."
"Recovering overpayments is a legally required part of the unemployment insurance system," the statement continued to say. "The previous administration suspended overpayment collections during the height of the pandemic and later paused them entirely due to litigation. Both state and federal law mandate that we now seek recovery of these funds. We’ve worked diligently to resolve structural challenges to restart this process in compliance with legal requirements, particularly by ensuring that every claimant receives detailed information about their full rights to appeal or request a waiver."
However, officials with the Department of Labor did not directly answer questions about how much Maryland overpaid in unemployment payments, how much the department is currently trying to recover, and if there were any gaps or oversight issues that allowed the overpayments and fraud to occur.
Officials did say overpayments could occur for several reasons including unreported wages, changes in availability for work, or identity theft or fraud. They said individuals who receive a notification of overpayment that was due to identity theft or fraud will not be held responsible for returning the funds, and a provided a website for instructions on how to report the issue.
Individuals who received an overpayment letter but are experiencing financial hardship may also request a waiver. Individuals can also call 667-207-6520, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to speak with a representative.