UIA alerts public of text message phishing scam

This is an example of a government imposter scam, which Nessel highlights on the Department of Attorney General's Consumer Alerts page.

Here are 10 tips from the UIA to protect your personal information:

• Scrutinize the webpage URL or link that you receive. If it is not an official Michigan.gov website, do not use it.
• If you do not trust a website or information, call UIA’s Customer Service at 1-866-500-0017 to verify what you are seeing.
• You should only link to UIA information or services through Michigan.gov/UIA.
• UIA will never ask a claimant to provide logins, passwords or banking information.
• UIA will never ask a claimant to send information to our personal emails.
• UIA will never ask a claimant to text information back.
• Keep your MiLOGIN and MiWAM information secure, do not provide it to anyone.
• If someone calls and you are suspicious about the intent, hang up and call UIA at 1-866-500-0017 and request staff to send information to you through your MiWAM account.
• If a caller provides information that sounds too good to be true, it likely is. Hang up.
• Make sure your contact information is current should UIA staff need to reach you.

If you suspect fraud or identity theft, report it by clicking on the Report Fraud and Identity Theft link at Michigan.gov/UIA and fill out a referral form. Be sure to fill out all the information and make sure it is current. Staff will respond to you in a timely manner. A UIA video explains how to report identity theft.

Stopping fraud is a key priority of Director Dale’s transformation of the UIA. In the eight months since her appointment as director, Director Dale has:

• Implemented new policies for employees and contractors, including fingerprinting, criminal background checks, and an updated ethics policy.
• Collaborated with the Attorney General’s office to combat fraud at the agency.
• Worked closely with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to bring bad actors to justice. To date, more than 50 individuals have been charged in connection with fraud cases, 13 have pleaded or been convicted and 6 sentenced for their crimes.
• Built a new, user-friendly website, and collaborated with nonprofit partners to improve access to the website and all other agency interactions with the public.
• Authorized 55,000 overpayment waivers with more to come. She also secured from the U.S. Department of Labor a temporary pause on certain collections for those who faced overpayments.
• Rebuilt the Trust Fund to $1.4 billion (and growing).

UIA’s What is UI Fraud webpage at Michigan.gov/UIA explains the many ways the Agency fights fraud, including as a leading partner in the Unemployment Insurance Fraud Response Team, leveraging tools and resources through the national Integrity Data Hub to identify criminals and participating in the Department of Labor’s Tiger Teams initiative to identify best anti-fraud practices.