New Email Scam Making the Rounds in Montana

A new scam is making the rounds of Montana businesses. This one is asking employers to e-mail information about employees that have been laid off or fired. Luckily, one vigilant Montana employer thought the email seemed fishy and reported the scam to officials.

"They were questioning whether or not it was valid because they hadn't laid anybody off or discharged anybody," said Unemployment Insurance Administrator for the State of Montana, Roy Mulvaney. " At about that time we got notification from the U.S. department of labor of a similar scam from the eastern part of the country."

Interview with Roy Mulvaney:

It appears that the scam is designed to "fish" personal information that can be leveraged into identity theft and other forms of fraud. So far, the e-mails have not been traced to a particular sender.

Mulvaney recommends that all recipients simply delete the scam email and says that the Department of Unemployment assistance will contact employees through the mail and through the phone, but never through e-mail.