State treasurer warns of text message scam

Pennsylvanians who receive unemployment compensation benefits are being targeted by a fraudulent text message scam, state Treasurer Stacy Garrity announced Monday.

Garrity said in a press release that recipients of normal unemployment compensation, pandemic unemployment assistance and federal pandemic unemployment compensation should be aware of scammers using fraudulent text messages.

One message tells recipients — inaccurately — that their state-issued ReliaCard account has been temporarily frozen. It encourages recipients to click on a link to verify their identity and card status.

ReliaCards, issued by

U.S. Bank, are prepaid debit cards and are one method used to distribute unemployment benefits in Pennsylvania.

“If you get a text message like this, do not click on the link,” Garrity said. “This is a scam and nothing but a scam. Criminals have been aggressively targeting unemployment compensation benefits throughout the pandemic and this is their latest attempt to steal money from honest Pennsylvanians.”

Garrity noted that neither the Pennsylvania Treasury nor the Pennsylvania Department of

Labor and Industry ever embed a link in a text message. Any text that includes a link and claims to be from Treasury or Labor and Industry is not authentic and should not be trusted.

More generally, she said, it’s important to never provide any personally identifiable information, user identification number or passwords unless you initiated the conversation by contacting the agency directly.

The treasury’s website includes a page answering commonly asked questions about unemployment benefits. The Department of Labor and Industry, which administers unemployment programs in Pennsylvania, has an entire website dedicated to unemployment issues, including a page focused on fraud.