Authorities in Maryland are warning of “ongoing and evolving” fraud scams targeting residents’ unemployment insurance benefits.
State police and the Maryland Department of Labor Unemployment Division said the scammers have been reaching out via text, email or phone call.
Their goal is to get you to enter a user ID and password on a fake website, and then use that information to divert benefit payments to their own bank accounts.
State police said to not click on any links in emails or texts that appear to be from the Maryland Department of Labor.
Additionally, they said:
- The unemployment division does not provide help through text message and will not send links asking to verify your account via text.
- The division will never request payment for help with unemployment insurance.
- Official help will not come by direct message on social media.
- That any sensitive information related to a Maryland unemployment insurance claim should go to a Maryland.gov email address.
Police said that unemployment insurance fraud is a nationwide problem, and that since the pandemic began, the Maryland Department of Labor has flagged nearly 2.3 million claims as potentially fraudulent.
