Colorado woman receives dozens of unemployment debit cards in the mail
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LONGMONT, Colorado (KCNC) — Dozens of unemployment cards are showing up at the wrong address in Longmont. When the first white envelope showed up with Sharlene Kesler’s mail, she didn’t think much of it, other than to return it to sender, but then more showed up.
“It’s my address but it’s not my name. I don’t know any of these people,” Kesler told CBS4.
She recalls it started about four weeks ago.
“Then the next day I got two, then almost every day I’d get a couple,” she said.
Currently, it’s up to three or five a day. Just recently, Kesler inspected one of the envelopes to see if it was some kind of scam.
“I opened one and realized it was an unemployment card,” she said.
Kesler has called a few numbers to report the issue. The bank referred her back to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. She went through automated prompts for about half an hour.
“And then they came on the line and said, thank you for calling. We’re sorry we have not appointments available,” she said.
It seems to Kesler this could be a computer error, and it may be the reason why some aren’t getting their payments. However, the labor department said these people could be victims of identity theft.
“How do you feed your family, how do you pay your rent or your mortgage?” Kesler wondered.
Kesler is following steps to stop the letters from coming but he has yet to get a call back, or a person on the line.
“My heart goes out to all these people, this is just one more thing that they have to suffer with and it’s just not right.”
The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment told CBS4 it is aware of this problem. It advises anyone who gets the cards to report them, and check their credit for unusual activity.
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