From the Beaver Police Department
The Beaver Police Department will be providing information on the current trending scams over the next several issues of Beaver Life Magazine. It is important to be aware of these scams as many of them are born out of the Coronavirus pandemic. We will be providing you with the most up to date information on these scams in an effort to help protect yourself. The Beaver Police Department wants you to know that if this happens to you, it means someone has obtained your personal information, including your name, social security number and date of birth. Please contact the Beaver Police Department so that we can help you protect your finances and your credit.
Since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic, scammers have begun to take advantage of newly instituted programs. The most recent scam law enforcement nationwide has learned about is the UC benefit scam. With millions of Americans out of work and filing for unemployment compensation this has unfortunately left scammers the opportunity to exploit any and all scenarios they can and to prey on the vulnerable.
The Beaver Police Department fields numerous complaint calls weekly from both residents as well as financial institutions who are being victimized, many of them financially. These scams include traditional ones as well as newly created ones which have been created as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. The Beaver Police Department has been working with our federal law enforcement partners to help combat this fraud and to assist in identifying how the fraud is perpetrated and ultimately who is behind it.
A brief explanation of the UC Benefits Scam shows that since the Coronavirus pandemic, scammers are filing claims for unemployment benefits, using the personal information of people who have not filed claims. Residents learn about the fraud when they get a notice from their state unemployment benefits office or their employer about their supposed application for benefits.
Below are steps that you can take immediately if you are a victim of the UC Benefit scam.
- Report the fraud to your employer
- Report the fraud to the Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation Office
- Conduct credit history checks often. You can utilize a free service through AnnualCreditReport.com. This can help you spot any new fraud quickly.
Be aware that unemployment payments typically are deposited to accounts the imposters control. Payments sometimes do get sent to a real person’s account, instead. If this happens to you, the scammers may contact you to try to get you to send some or all of the money to them. They may pretend to be your state unemployment agency and say the money was sent by mistake. This a money mule scam and participating in one could cause you more difficulties.
Lastly, if you receive UC benefits that you know you never applied for, report it to the Beaver Police Department as well as the Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation Office. Remember that this is a scam and you should never respond to any calls, emails, or text messages telling you to wire money, send cash, or put money on gift cards. Any state agency will never tell you to repay money that way. Anyone who tells you to do those things is a scammer.
Contact the Beaver Police Department to report any fraud or scams at 724-775-0880 or 724-775-0881.
