Federal Trade Commission

08/04/2021 | News release | Distributed by Public on 08/04/2021 23:19

Phishing scheme targets unemployment insurance benefits and PII

Share this page

August 4, 2021
by
Seena Gressin
Attorney, Division of Consumer & Business Education, FTC

Have you gotten an alarming text message about your unemployment insurance benefits from what seems to be your state workforce agency? You're not alone. Identity thieves are targeting millions of people nationwide with scam phishing texts aimed at stealing personal information, unemployment benefits, or both.

The phishing texts try to dupe you to click a link to 'make necessary corrections' to your unemployment insurance (UI) claim, 'verify' your personal information, or 'reactivate' your UI benefits account. The link takes you to a fake state workforce agency (SWA) website that may look very real. There, you're asked to input your website credentials and personal information, like your Social Security number. Fraudsters can use the information to file fraudulent UI benefits claims or for other identity theft.

Here are examples of some of the phishing texts. (Click image to enlarge.)

[Link]

Protect yourself. Know that state agencies do not send text messages asking for personal information. If you get an unsolicited text or email message that looks like it's from an SWA, don't reply or click any link. If you're not sure, contact the SWA directly using the State Directory for Reporting Unemployment Identity Theft at the bottom of this United States Department of Labor webpage.

If you think you may have entered your personal information into a fraudulent website, visit IdentityTheft.gov to find out how to make it harder for an identity thief to misuse your information.

You can report a suspicious text message or email claiming to be from an SWA to the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) by completing an NCDF Complaint Form or by calling (866) 720-5721. Tell us too at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. And, tell a friend. By sharing your experience and knowledge about the fraud, you can help someone else avoid the trap.

Blog Topics:
Privacy, Identity & Online Security
Scam Tags: Phishing Scams
  • Add new comment

Comments

CyberAware| August 4, 2021
|
  • reply

Please note that this is happening via email phishing attempts as well. Received one recently requiring that information be provided within 48 hours or lose current or potential benefits.

Don't use your ...| August 4, 2021
|
  • reply

Thank you so much for this advices and the help steps but this text messages keep coming to me I change my SIM card & my phone number & it's even worth at my new number, emails& address mail too

Leave a Comment

Read Our Privacy Act Statement

It is your choice whether to submit a comment. If you do, you must create a user name, or we will not post your comment. The Federal Trade Commission Act authorizes this information collection for purposes of managing online comments. Comments and user names are part of the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) public records system, and user names also are part of the FTC's computer user records system. We may routinely use these records as described in the FTC's Privacy Act system notices. For more information on how the FTC handles information that we collect, please read our privacy policy.

Comment Policy

This is a moderated blog; we review all comments before they are posted. We expect participants to treat each other and the bloggers with respect. We will not post comments that do not comply with our commenting policy. We may edit comments to remove links to commercial websites or personal information before posting them.

We won't post:

  • spam or off-topic comments
  • comments that contain vulgar language, personal attacks, or offensive terms that target specific groups
  • sales pitches or promotions
  • comments that contain clearly misleading or false information
  • comments that contain personal information, like home addresses

Comments submitted to this blog become part of the public domain. To protect your privacy and the privacy of others, please do not include personal information. Also, do not use this blog to report fraud; instead, file a complaint.