Job Service has been made aware of a scam to gather personal information from individuals or infect the recipient’s device with malicious software. The scammers are sending text messages with a message saying “An error in your unemployment claim has occurred, click <a URL is included that is not associated with Job Service> to review your claim, North Dakota Department of Labor.”
Individuals receiving this message should not click on or navigate to the URL or provide any information.
Red flags that may indicate a message is fraudulent:
- Job Service does use text messages and email for communications if an individual chooses e-notifications. However, no personal information or detail is provided within the message. Most messages ask the recipient to login to their UIICE account. At times, there could be a legitimate link within the Job Service message, such as when the individual has personally initiated a password or PIN reset. There may also be links on occasion to view general documents that do not contain any personal information. The URL to these documents will start with: https://www.jobsnd.com/ or https://apps.nd.gov/ . If you are unsure of the validity of the link, do not click the link, instead go to the document or login page directly on the Job Service website, www.jobsnd.com or contact the Job Service Unemployment Insurance Claims Center at 701-328-4995 for guidance.
- The fraudulent message may reference the wrong state agency. In the case of the current fraud attempt, the North Dakota Department of Labor is referenced. The North Dakota Department of Labor does not administer the unemployment insurance program in North Dakota and has no information relating to the program. Job Service North Dakota administers the unemployment insurance program in North Dakota. Job Service and the Department of Labor are two separate agencies.
- The phone number may be from an area code other than 701. Although the phone number can be an indicator of fraud, the spoofing of phone numbers is a common activity of scammers, so use of the telephone number alone to identify fraudulent messages is not reliable.
Please be vigilant and do not click on URLs or links you may receive in text or email unless you are absolutely certain of the origin. Simply clicking on some URLs and links can load software on your device which can be used to steal your information or even take over your device.