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U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Justice Department Warns About Fake Unemployment Benefit Websites (DOJ-OPA 03/04/2021) (2021-03-10)

Summary

A Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs press release dated March 4, 2021, warning that fraudsters are creating websites that mimic unemployment benefit websites, including state workforce agency websites, to obtain consumers' personal information. The release states that the fraudsters send spam text messages and emails with links to the fake sites, and advises consumers not to click such links and to apply only through official state workforce agency websites. It asks recipients of such messages to report them to the National Center for Disaster Fraud. The alert is provided by the National Unemployment Insurance Fraud Task Force and the Consumer Protection Branch of the Civil Division.

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“U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Justice Department Warns About Fake Unemployment Benefit Websites (DOJ-OPA 03/04/2021) (2021-03-10).” Original at www.oig.dol.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/u-s-department-of-labor-oig-justice-department-warns-about-fake-unempl-6ecddc17a4/, SHA-256 7dfcc7d694c1dd5fd43d0457ae3cdf2c149e516f3e10fa2836b1031135c143d1.

Full text

                                        Department of Justice
                                          Office of Public Affairs


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                            Thursday, March 4, 2021
 Justice Department Warns About Fake Unemployment Benefit
                         Websites
The Department of Justice has received reports that fraudsters are creating websites mimicking
unemployment benefit websites, including state workforce agency (SWA) websites, for the purpose of
unlawfully capturing consumers’ personal information.

To lure consumers to these fake websites, fraudsters send spam text messages and emails purporting to be
from an SWA and containing a link. The fake websites are designed to trick consumers into thinking they
are applying for unemployment benefits and disclosing personally identifiable information and other
sensitive data. That information can then be used by fraudsters to commit identity theft.

Unless from a known and verified source, consumers should never click on links in text messages or
emails claiming to be from an SWA offering the opportunity to apply for unemployment insurance
benefits. Instead, anyone needing to apply for unemployment benefits should go to an official SWA
website, a list of which can be found
at: https://www.careeronestop.org/localhelp/unemploymentbenefits/unemployment-benefits.aspx.

Schemes that use links embedded in unsolicited text messages and emails in attempts to obtain personally
identifiable information are commonly referred to as phishing schemes. Phishing messages may look like
they come from government agencies, financial intuitions, shipping companies, and social media
companies, among many others. Carefully examine any message purporting to be from a company and do
not click on a link in an unsolicited email or text message. Remember that companies generally do not
contact you to ask for your username or password. When in doubt, contact the entity purportedly sending
you the message, but do not rely on any contact information in the potentially fraudulent message.

If you receive a text message or email claiming to be from an SWA and containing a link or other contact
information, please report the communication to the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) by
calling 866-720-5721 or using the NCDF Web Complaint Form found at: www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud.

If you believe you may have entered information into a fraudulent website, resources on how to protect
your information can be found at: www.identitytheft.gov.

To learn more about identifying and protecting yourself from phishing attempts, go
to: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-recognize-and-avoid-phishing-
scams or https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/spoofing-and-phishing.

Further information about the SWA-imposter scheme, and other major scams targeting American
consumers, can be found at the Justice Department’s Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force
website: https://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch/transnational-elder-fraud-strike-
force.

This alert is provided by the Justice Department’s National Unemployment Insurance Fraud Task Force
(NUIFTF) and the Consumer Protection Branch of the department’s Civil Division. Members of NUIFTF
include: Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, U.S. Secret Service, Homeland Security
Investigations, IRS-Criminal Investigation, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Social Security Administration
Office of Inspector General, and FDIC Office of Inspector General.

Find out more about the NUIFTF at: https://www.justice.gov/file/1319301/download.
For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch,
visit http://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch.
Topic(s):
Consumer Protection
Component(s):
Civil Division
Press Release Number:
21-200

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