The Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) is reporting that scammers have been attempting to file large amounts of illegitimate unemployment claims.

At least a half dozen states, including Massachusetts and Rhode Island, have been targeted by these scammers who have been using stolen personal information (PII) from previous national data breaches to file bogus claims in several states.

To combat this fraud, DUA has implemented additional identification verification processes which may delay payments to legitimate claims.

Individuals who believe they may have had a false unemployment claim filed using their identity are urged to utilize the Department of Unemployment Assistance fraud contact form at mass.gov/unemployment-fraud or call DUA customer service at (877) 626-6800.