Labor Dept. issues scam alert related to phony pandemic aid availability

By The Star Staff

Labor and Human Resources (DTRH by its Spanish initials) Secretary Gabriel Maldonado González warned citizens on Wednesday about a new fraud scheme where, by text message, alleged pandemic aid from the federal Department of Labor is reported to be available.

“Recently, the federal government alerted us about the sending of messages to claimants from several states indicating that they are eligible to receive a supplemental bonus of $5,700 granted by the United States Department of Labor to those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Maldonado González. “The letter indicates that the amount will be deposited in your bank account by simply requesting it by accessing the link that accompanies the message.”

It is important to emphasize, the Labor chief said, that at the moment, the federal government is not granting incentives of this nature.

“Our agency has also not issued such communication, either by text message or email,” he added. “Therefore, we ask citizens not to fall into these types of schemes, much less provide their personal information.”

Any claimant who is a victim of the aforementioned or any other fraud scheme can report it to the DTRH investigative unit: denunciasempleo@trabajo.pr.gov. For more information about how to recognize and avoid scams, go to https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-recognize-and-avoid-phishing-scams.