MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Alabama Attorney General’s Office says it has received a variety of complaints from citizens who believe that their personal identifying information has been used to carry out attempted unemployment benefits fraud over the past year.
The AG’s office says the schemes appear to be multi-faceted, making them difficult for the Department of Labor to trace and to shut down.
Authorities say they have recently learned about a new phishing scheme being carried out through text messages that direct people to report suspected unemployment benefits fraud on a fake Alabama Department of Labor website. The spoof Labor website ends in “.com” instead of “.gov.”
“Citizens should be advised that the Alabama Department of Labor will not communicate with you via text message,” the AG’s office said. “Any text message purporting to be from the Department of Labor is a phishing scam.”
If you believe you have been the victim of unemployment benefits fraud — including those who received a fraudulent form 1099-G — you are encouraged to file a report via the Alabama Department of Labor’s complaint portal found at Labor.Alabama.gov.
This story via WVTM 13
