Just saying that unemployment is only interested in unemployment.
If she gave them false documents to verify her status and receive unemployment that's fraud. But what I am afraid of when someone is asking questions like this that they need an attorney, (which I agree, she does have other issues, and it's going to take this person some real serious work to get her status straightened out overall) but right now she's been contacted by the unemployment system.
I want her to understand that avoiding them because she can't afford an attorney or because she doesn't have the money to make the repayments and thinks they're going to demand the money right now is the very worst thing for her to do. She is going to have to get this overpayment established. They've sent her a notice that she may be overpaid. She's got to work with them to get the situation worked out. No one who can't see exactly what's going on is able to help her or give her information. Avoidance of them is the very worst thing to do.
And yes, they may not waive the overpayment, that's their call. But under almost all conditions they will work with a person, set up a repayment plan of some sort, as they frequently deal with people who are not immediately able to pay back the money and not all of them are prosecuted.
And since someone within the system accepted her documents and set her up, when apparently her legal status was not that which would qualify her for benefits they may or may not consider it a fraud overpayment. It's for them to look at. They may be doing this on an availability issue. We can't tell. She needs to let them get going on it.

