DENVER — A Twitter account has been suspended for imitating the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) and trying to gain sensitive information.
CDLE tweeted about the fake account on Friday and warned people not to give personal information to the account, which had the @LaborColorado handle. CDLE’s official Twitter handle is @ColoradoLabor.
“We have reported this fake account to Twitter and are working to ensure it is removed as soon as possible,” CDLE wrote.
Via email, a CDLE spokesperson could not provide more details about the fraudulent account.
RELATED: CDLE says message sent in error to people waiting on federally extended unemployment benefits
The hack comes as CDLE transitions to a new system, rendering its current platforms unavailable from Friday until Sunday. This includes MyUI claimant, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) system, the phone line for requesting payment and virtual assistant functions.
Friday’s fake Twitter account wasn’t the first time CDLE has been the target of fraud.
> Watch the video above for a look at the expiration of federal PUA benefits and other Colorado laws.
CDLE has previously said that the federal PUA program was especially vulnerable to fraud and on Tuesday said when that program came to an end, the state saw an uptick in fraud claims targeting its regular, state-run unemployment system.
"Since the CARES Act, what is essentially happening is the criminals are leaving one system and attacking another system," Cher Haavind, the department’s spokesperson, said. "The reality is the PUA system was, unfortunately, more susceptible to UI fraud but what we're seeing is now that the doors are closed on PUA and that system, they are taking the stolen identity and using it to file fraudulent claims in the regular unemployment system."
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Local stories from 9NEWS