Small typo costs New York man thousands in unemployment benefits
NEW YORK -- A simple one-digit typo cost a Brooklyn man thousands of dollars, causing his unemployment benefits to be sent to someone's account.
In November of 2025, Philip Walters lost his job in data analyst, working for a New York hospital. He blames the layoff on artificial intelligence.
"Yeah, I would. I would associate it with it," Walters said.
Suddenly jobless, he applied for unemployment benefits through the State of New York. It wasn't easy.
"I was denied twice for unemployment, so I had to file for a hearing, and then it took probably about 16 weeks to get the hearing. And then when I got the hearing, I actually won the hearing," said Walters of the lengthy process.
He was awarded the funds but hit a frustrating roadblock. When his benefits were distributed, they were sent to another person's bank account. It was due to a simple mistake that anyone might make.
"I put in the wrong checking account number on The Department of Labor's portal," said Walters. "It was missing the last digit."
More than $11,000 was gone.
"I felt like I had nowhere else to go, really. I didn't know what else to do at that point," Walters said.
Philip asked his bank to withdraw his money from the wrong account and deposit it into his account.
"They couldn't do anything unless the Department of Labor actually initiated a recall. I don't know why. They just would not do it for me."
Without the financial support, Walters worked odd jobs to make ends meet.
"I was doing DoorDash for a little bit, and then, I started helping out a friend of mine. After he does like, construction work, I would do the cleaning; I would clean people's houses," Walters said.
With no resolution in sight, Philip decided to make one more call.
"I've seen your show plenty of times, and I know that you help people recover funds that they, that's actually owed to them," said Walters.
ABC affiliate WABC worked with the Department of Labor and asked them to get on the same page as Walter's bank. Turns out, the hold-up came down to one single piece of paperwork. Once we got both sides on the same page, we finally got the good news we were waiting for.
"I was shocked. It was so unexpected," Walters said. "I think you put a lot of pressure on them and got them to do the right thing."
$11,782.54 direct-deposited into Philips' correct account. And he had some good news of his own to share.
"I actually found a job," Walters said.
Major development and big-time gratitude.
"Thank you so much!" Walters said. "I really appreciate this."
