Greg's Corner

Unemployment scam turns up on social media

Previously, when we’ve discussed unemployment scams they’ve happened in one of two ways. The first way is when a scammer or identity thief has applied for benefits in your name. They do this because many state unemployment offices are currently receiving a deluge of applications due to the recent mass layoffs. The scammers are getting people’s identities from either a large data breach or from people sharing too many personal details on social media.

The other scam involving unemployment has been scammers posing as state unemployment office employees. They’ve been calling people and telling them things like they’ve been approved for additional benefits but they have to verify their information. This is when the scammers will ask for information like Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, and bank account passwords. Instead of receiving additional benefits, victims have had their bank accounts emptied and identities stolen.

Now, the Department of labor in Kansas is reporting a twist on the second type of scam. The KDOL is issuing a warning about scammers creating fake Facebook profiles and posing as KDOL employees. They’ve been said to be messaging people offering assistance with their unemployment benefit claims. While the KDOL did not go into great detail, it’s safe to assume the scammers are asking people for their personal information as mentioned above. The State of Kansas has said that its state’s unemployment office would only email recipients from the ks.gov email address.

As we always say, if a scam is happening in one state it can happen in all the others. If you receive one of these Facebook messages offering unemployment assistance it is more than likely a scam. Keep in mind that anyone can make a Facebook account pretending to be a state employee. Messages like this should be reported to your state’s fraud department. If you’ve fired for unemployment, the state should already have the personal information they need to issue payments and will not ask you for information like your Social Security number or bank account.