Jacksonville man desperate for help after being locked out of Florida’s unemployment site

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Brandon Green lost his job eight months ago because of COVID-19. Since then, he’s relied on unemployment money to help get by as he looks for work.

”It’s a terrible feeling and whatnot. I don’t have children… my heart goes out to people who are having to deal with this,” Green said.

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Green says three weeks ago he logged onto his ID.me account to file a claim, and couldn’t get in. He says he then called the support number, but couldn’t get through to anyone for help.

”You can’t talk to nobody so you don’t know what’s going on next,” he added.

Action News Jax reached out to the Department of Economic Opportunity. The DEO didn’t explain why claimants like Green can’t seem to get through to anybody for help, but did say it’s been experiencing multiple cyber threats, so it’s upped security to protect claimants’ information.

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The DEO said many claimants are being required to reset their PINs to gain access to their accounts. In fact, the DEO released an update Tuesday night for claimants who need to get into their accounts. The DEO also shared a PIN reset guide for claimants who need to get back into their accounts.

The DEO also said claimants should be using the updated Reemployment Assistance Help Center.

”It’s like the system is almost designed to frustrate you, to keep you from wanting to do it,” Green said.

He still thinks more support needs to be available to claimants like him.

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