Scammers Contacting People on Workers’ Compensation

The Tennessee Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) is warning Tennesseans of a scam in which victims are contacted via Facebook Messenger and then asked to wire funds in order to receive money from a federal workers’ compensation program.
The alleged scam artist, who used the account of an actual Facebook friend, recently contacted a Tennessee resident via Facebook Messenger to tell her she could be entitled to money through the new program. He explained the program is designed to help retired, semi-retired, working class, and low-income earners.
During the online conversation with someone she thought she knew, the scammer told the woman she could receive upwards to $150,000.
But, in order to collect compensation, he told the woman she would have to pay upfront the taxes associated with the amount of money in order to receive payment from the government. The scam artist went so far as to give the woman a Rhode Island telephone number to text for more information about where to send money via Western Union.
The Tennessee Bureau of Workers’ Compensation warns Tennesseans there is no such federal workers’ compensation program.
If anyone receives an unsolicited Facebook message claiming they are entitled to thousands of dollars through the workers’ compensation program should immediately block the sender and contact Facebook to report the scam.