New unemployment insurance scam aims to steal benefits with fake emails, texts and phone calls
WASHINGTON - A new unemployment insurance scam is being tracked across parts of the D.C. region.
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Maryland State Police and the Maryland Department of Labor Unemployment Division say they are following an illegal scam where fraudsters impersonate department representatives.
The scammers send fake emails, text messages and make phone calls asking legitimate claimants to enter their user IDs and passwords onto fake websites where benefit payments are then diverted into to their own bank accounts.
The Maryland Department of Labor says they have flagged nearly 1.8 million claimants - and 2.3 million total claims - as potentially fraudulent since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
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Here are tips to help keep your accounts safe:
How to Protect Yourself From Unemployment Insurance Fraud Scams
To help you distinguish between legitimate assistance from Division staff and fraudulent assistance from a potential scammer, please remember the following:
Division does not provide assistance through text message and will not send any links asking a claimant to verify their account through text.
Division will never request or require payment for assistance with unemployment insurance.
Division staff will not provide assistance to claimants through direct message on social media.
Do not provide any sensitive information related to your Maryland unemployment insurance claim by e-mail unless it is to a @maryland.gov e-mail address.
Report Fraud Scams
If you believe that your information has been used to fraudulently file an unemployment insurance claim, please contact the Maryland Department of Labor’s Division of Unemployment Insurance by visiting MDunemployment.com or e-mailing ui.fraud@maryland.gov.
Suspected unemployment insurance fraud should also be reported to the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General Hotline by visiting the website or calling 1-800-347-3756.
Identity Theft Protection and Resources
Follow these steps to protect your information from identity theft. If you believe you have been a victim of identity theft, please do the following:
Contact your local Police Department or Maryland State Police Barrack in your area to file a police report.
File a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) online at www.IC3.gov.
For more information about identity theft, and how to protect yourself please visit:
Commissioner of Financial Regulation Identity Theft Page
Maryland Attorney General Identity Theft
IdentityTheft.gov
What Else Can You Do
Review Your Account Statements and Order a Credit Report. We recommend that you regularly review account statements and order credit reports. Under Maryland and federal law, you are entitled to two FREE credit reports from each of the credit reporting agencies each year.
Call 1-877-322-8228 or visit www.annualcreditreport.com to access your report through the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. You must contact each of the three credit reporting agencies individually to access your credit report under Maryland law:
Equifax: 1-800-685-1111
Experian: 1-888-397-3742
TransUnion: 1-888-909-8872
If you have questions or need additional information visit MDunemployment.com.