Scammers have been targeting Spanish-speaking workers, trying to trick them into paying fees to access workers’ compensation benefits around the South and West, officials said.
The North Carolina Industrial Commission, which oversees workers’ comp in the state, warned in a bulletin this week about “a sophisticated fraud scheme targeting workers’ compensation claimants across multiple states through the use of official-looking communications and fake hearings.”
The scammers have utilized phone calls, emails, texts, video calls and social media to impersonate judicial officials, government employees, attorneys and other comp professionals, the Commission explained. The goal is to convince injured workers to attend an online workers’ compensation hearing and pay money in order to receive benefits or a settlement.
The Commission noted that it does not contact claimants by text, video calls or social media, and claimants should not respond to suspect communications nor attempt to send money. Anyone with questions about the legitimacy of communications can call the Commission at 800-688-8349 or 919-716-1700, or can report scammers by emailing fraudcomplaints@ic.nc.gov.
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