Va. Dept. of Social Services: Child support payments duplicated due to technical issue

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - The Virginia Department of Social Services (DSS) says child support payments made on April 1 may have been duplicated due to a technical issue.

The issue may have caused additional payments to be drafted from bank accounts on Monday and Tuesday.

An Orange County man contacted the On Your Side Investigators worried about the issues himself.

“It was unbelievable for me to see that,” said Brett Koester.

Koester said when he went to pay his child support online earlier this week, a message popped up reading, “Due to a technical issue, payments scheduled for April 1 were duplicated.”

“I immediately thought about all the problems these duplicate payments are causing people,” Koester said.

A DSS spokesperson said additional payments might have been drafted from banks account this past Monday and Tuesday.

“Our State Disbursement Unit is currently working with our technical team and Wells Fargo to resolve this issue,” said DSS spokeswoman Cletisha Lovelace. “It may take up to seven business days before this issue is fully resolved.”

“It’s really kind of a lot of money because my monthly payment is $560, so if they were to duplicate that, that’s significant money from my budget for my household,” Koester said.

Out of concern for a duplicate payment happening, Koester held off on paying at this time.

“I need to have some reassurance that it’s not going to happen to me,” he added.

In an email Thursday afternoon, Lovelace said it is safe to make payments now.

“The issue was contained to a single payment submission run,” she added. “We estimate approximately 2,324 transactions were impacted.”

Meanwhile, the agency urged people not to dispute the duplicate payment with their banks because it may cause more money to be deducted from their accounts.

Koester also posted about this issue in various social media groups dealing with child support to spread the word.

“People were really surprised, and they’re all scrambling to make sure it’s not happened to them,” he said.

The agency apologized for the inconvenience this issue caused and wants to assure customers that they are actively working to resolve it.

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