Most of the work comp lies I’ve written about involve insurance companies not telling the truth about Illinois work comp law or lazy attorneys telling clients how hard it is to go to trial (it’s not) because they don’t want to do the work needed to get the job done.
The other day I heard a new one though. A woman called me after receiving a text from someone that told her there is money waiting for her from a workers’ compensation claim. This was surprising to her as she had never been hurt on the job or filed a claim. She called them and the person they talked to made it sound legit, even giving her a claim number, docket number and telling her a dollar amount that she was entitled to.
Fortunately this woman thought it was odd and called me to see if it was a scam or not. Regrettably, it is. Much like people who are told by an email or call that they’ve won the lottery or inherited money from an unknown relative, this woman was being preyed upon and part of her hoped it was legit because she could really use the money. It’s a sad situation and that’s how these scammers get you.
It didn’t get this far, but at some point they would have sent her a fake check and then told her either that she owed taxes on it and to send them money or that they paid her too much and she needed to send some back. Their check would eventually bounce and if she sent money back from her account she’d never see it again.
Plain and simple these are crooks who are doing this. Insurance companies don’t text people out of the blue. They don’t offer money to people who have never been injured. They’d never ask you to send money back to them.
If this ever happens to you, my advice is to ignore it and/or report them to the police or FBI. The people who do these scams hope that if they target 1,000 people they will get 2-3 to fall for it. If they do they make a bunch of money. These scumbags belong in jail. If you have any questions about these types of calls, you are welcome to contact us for help at any time.
