The phone rings and you answer it, only to hear a stern voice tell you, "You are required to pay this debt. Failure to repay your over payment may affect your ability to collect unemployment insurance benefits as well as impact your state and/or federal income tax refunds." And they mean business!

About 63,000 Massachusetts citizens wrongly received jobless benefits going back almost 30 years! About 40 percent of the 63,000 people receiving the automated messages were overpaid as a result of alleged fraud. Massachusetts wants to get back its over payments.

The average amount owed the state is about $2,500 per person, but some cases involve as little as $100. So far, the state has made about 17,000 calls and have collected $400,000 in over payments. Massachusetts officials are hoping to return about $157 million through this effort!

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