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(Helena, MT) A new “Phishing” scam is targeting Montanans receiving unemployment benefits. “We have received tips that callers may be saying they are Unemployment Insurance staff and asking Montanans for confidential information. These calls are coming from outside Montana’s ‘406’ area code,” said Labor Commissioner, Keith Kelly.

Because the Department’s Unemployment Insurance customer service representatives do call customers and ask claim questions on a regular basis, it can be harder for claimants to determine whether or not the “Phishing” call is legitimate. Here are some ways that you can separate the legitimate calls from the phishers:

·All calls from Montana Unemployment Insurance Division will be from area code 406;

·You can verify with our main switchboard (406-444-3783) that a staff name left for a direct callback is one of our employees;

·If you are in doubt, tell the caller to give you the questions, and you will call back or respond in writing to our address;

·The Claimant Handbook has phone numbers, fax numbers, and the mailing address to submit information to our agency, inside the front cover. This Handbook is available online at uid.dli. mt.gov.

·Unemployment Insurance does not have a toll-free phone number for callbacks, so any 1-800 number given for your response is not legitimate. Any 1-800 number on your caller ID saying they are from UI, is not legit either.

All information collected by the Unemployment Insurance Division of the Department of Labor and Industry is secure and confidential. “Many times we do call about claims, but we want to be sure that you are responding only to the calls from our agency and not giving away confidential information such as Social Security number to scammers,” advised Roy Mulvaney, Unemployment Insurance administrator. “We have received two such reports in the past week.”

L and I MEDIA CONTACT:
Casey Kyler-West 
Communications Director 
Department of Labor & Industry 
406-444-1520 
ckylerwest@mt.gov

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