Commissioner Swanson Warns of Unemployment Insurance Scam Targeting Montanans

• June 11 2024

Helena, Mont.-The Montana Department of Labor and Industry is warning Montanans to be on the lookout for fraudulent emails threatening to cancel or deny a DLI Unemployment Insurance claim.

The message says, "You have time sensitive correspondence waiting in your DLI Unemployment Insurance Online Inbox that may require a response." It goes on to say, "Failure to respond to time sensitive requests for information may result in a loss or denial of your DLI Unemployment Insurance claim."

Commissioner Swanson urges Montanans to be on the lookout for the red flags of fraud.

• Scammers often use a sense of urgency to isolate and force the victim to act quickly without considering the veracity of the message.
• There are often misspelled words, grammar mistakes, and formatting issues.
• The fraudster may ask the victim to click on a link. *In the case of these fraudulent messages, the link takes the potential victim to a .com rather than .gov website.
• No contact information is included in the message.
• The potential victim never signed up for the service mentioned in the message.

Montanans can report any  scams to the Montana Department of Justice’s Office of Consumer Protection at https://app.doj.mt.gov/OCPPortal/?q=node/396, contactocp@mt.gov, or (406) 444-4500 or toll free at (800) 481-6896.