Online fraudsters tried to scam jobless workers using a fake Facebook page that closely resembled the one used by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, except for one important detail. The scammers misspelled the word “labor.”

Grifters running a Facebook account for a “labour” department, using the British spelling of the word, tried to obtain workers’ personal and confidential information, such as Social Security or unemployment claim numbers, a department spokesperson said Monday. That phony page has been taken down, but state officials warned that such scams have ramped up since Congress extended federal unemployment benefits.

“Unfortunately, the availability of new federal unemployment money is causing a surge in fraud attempts,” acting Labor and Industry Secretary Jennifer Berrier said in a statement. “L&I does not communicate directly with individuals over social media, including Facebook.”

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE