Alabama AG Warns Of Unemployment Benefits Scam

MONTGOMERY, AL — A phishing scam has reportedly made its rounds through the state recently, which involves text messages to steal personal information and commit unemployment claim fraud.

Attorney General Steve Marshall said his office 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. These schemes appear to be multi-faceted, Marshall said, making them difficult for the Department of Labor to trace and to shut down.

The text messages direct Alabamians to report suspected unemployment benefits fraud on a fake 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," Marshall said in a release. "Any text message purporting to be from the Department of Labor is a phishing scam."

People who believe they have been the victim of unemployment benefits fraud—including those who received a fraudulent form 1099-G—should file a report via the Alabama Department of Labor’s complaint portal found at Labor.Alabama.gov.

Alabamians are encouraged to always be protective of their personal information and to be on guard against suspicious activity related to unemployment claims.