ADDIS - Two months ago, Lisa Deshotel opened a piece of mail to find a U.S. Bank ReliaCard inside. The return address on the document said it was from a Louisiana Workforce Commission with a P.O. Box in Indianapolis, IN.

For weeks, Deshotel has been calling the Louisiana Workforce Commission to find answers about the card.

"I gave it a week, no answer, no reply, so I started calling again," she said. "I've called two or three times a week for the last two months I can't get anybody, I've left message after message."

The U.S. Bank ReliaCard is addressed to her husband, Kent Deshotel, who did not apply for unemployment. 

"He's never applied for unemployment, he's never applied for unemployment a day in his life," Deshotel said.

Documents enclosed with the card provide instruction for keeping track of a balance and say that if the card is not activated after a certain time it will start deducting funds from the balance.

The frustration about the card and lack of response from the LWC prompted Deshotel to contacted 2 On Your Side and share her story.
"Nobody's returned my calls," she said. "I don't know what to do with it. I don't want to get stuck paying for something that we didn't apply for."

Friday, 2 On Your Side heard back from the Louisiana Workforce Commission, which said it cannot comment on this particular case; however, the LWC has numerous early mechanisms in place to prevent fraud and the matter is currently under investigation.

The LWC says, "Generally speaking, there is a fraudulent scheme where perpetrators request a bank card when they first file a claim. Then, within a few days, the perpetrators will change the method of receiving their funds to their bank account, which is one of the reasons that we flag suspicious claims."

When 2 On Your Side's Brittany Weiss asked whether or not the document came from the LWC, she was told: "that's under investigation."

The LWC suggested Deshotel destroy the document and the card or turn it over to law enforcement. Deshotel says she's planning to do the latter.