ORLANDO, Fla. – The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity is making a series of changes amid extensive complaints of glitches and log in errors on its unemployment website. 

DEO said Tuesday it will further require claimants to verify their identity as the agency continues to face various cyber attacks.

The “Pin Glitch” or “Lockout Loop” as some have called it is preventing countless thousands from being able to access their unemployment claims and file for weekly benefits.

“They’re literally shutting us out, we can’t get through to talk to anybody,” said Dana Priest of Brevard County.

Priest is among the several thousand people who have reached out to Spectrum News in recent weeks, frustrated with a new failure within the CONNECT unemployment system.

In this case, people say they try to log into their account, but get repeated error screens saying: “Your account has reached the maximum number of failed login attempts and has been temporarily locked.”

“You only have so many weeks to claim those weeks, so you only have so much time,” Priest said. “I’m hoping that after time passes I’ll be able to claim those weeks. There’s nothing I can do now and it’s been four weeks since I’ve been paid.”

Priest receives $177 a week in unemployment benefits. It’s not much, but the little amount helps the single mom get some of her bills paid.

This ‘pin glitch’ appeared in late July after Florida Department of Economic Opportunity announced a massive data breach. DEO said then that hackers may have spent more than a month in the system illegally obtaining personal information of claimants.

In response, DEO said it notified the nearly 58,000 people impacted and was expanding safeguards, including changing PINs.

On Wednesday, a DEO spokesperson told Spectrum News:  “…the PIN resets, and other screen messages you are referencing, may be caused by continued cyber attacks against the CONNECT system. Due to these continued attacks, many claimants are being required to reset their CONNECT PIN in order to access their account.”

While DEO has long relied on a company called ID.meto verify a person’s identity, DEO is now launching“DEO Verify” in response to the cyber attacks.

DEO is implementing the following steps to help claimants regain access to their CONNECT accounts:

• DEO Verify is now available for claimants to verify their identity to access their account. Claimants will receive email notification from the Department to access this verification tool. Claimants are encouraged to check their spam and junk mailboxes for notifications from the Department.
• Florida residents who have a valid driver’s license or identification card may verify their personal information with DEO Verify to receive a new PIN and instructions to access their CONNECT account. 
• Additionally, DEO will soon introduce multi-factor authentication measures in order for claimants to access CONNECT and to ensure their accounts remain secure. 
• The PIN reset guide also includes directions to reset credentials to access and assist with other login issues.
• DEO recommends that claimants use the updated Reemployment Assistance Help Center resource to notify the Department of any issues relating to their CONNECT account. Concerns submitted through this resource are routed quickly to appropriate DEO team members to review and assist. 
• We encourage all claimants to be vigilant in protecting personal information and to report any fraud online.

Spectrum News continues to request an interview with DEO Executive Director, Dane Eagle. On August 9, 2021, a DEO spokesperson said in an email: “The Department is declining your request for an interview with Secretary Eagle.”

Spectrum News followed up with an open door invitation to interview Director Eagle about the unemployment problems, and continues to invite Eagle to address the concerns in an interview.

The agency in the last two months has also failed to answer extensive questions about staffing, call center data, and other issues plaguing claims.

In June, DEO ended its contract with a third party call center company. Since then, complaints have only grown from people unable to reach a DEO representative. 

“I call at different times all day long, you can’t get through from the moment you start calling at 7:30 a.m., their phone lines are too busy,” Priest said. “There’s no way to leave a message. They just hang up on you.”

Priest is among the countless Floridians who say they’re frustrated by DEO’s lack of attention on the problems. These people say they feel as though they are being overlooked and forgotten about.

The challenge for many is that unemployment benefits provided the thin string of support needed to survive in some way as they try to find a new job and build a new life.

Priest is an out-of-work childcare worker. She said she’s struggling to find a healthy environment to work in to make end’s meet. She’s now taking courses and considering an entirely new career field.

With many people now weeks and months behind on receiving benefits, they’re falling further behind on bills. Those piling bills add further stress and complication.

Priest said to survive for now she is borrowing money from friends and relying on the generosity of her landlord, who is being lenient with rent.

“I can’t even deal, it’s so stressful,” Priest said. “It’s just going to put me in a jam later on these bills I’ve been putting off to pay those retroactively.”

Priest, a single mother of a 10-year-old, lost her own mother to COVID in recent months. Unable to afford to continue to homeschool her daughter, she was left with no choice but to send her daughter to school.

With the loss of her mom, Priest is concerned as her own daughter is not eligible yet for a COVID-19 vaccine.