The Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission (Commission) has reissued its fraud alert regarding a workers’ compensation scheme currently affecting states nationwide.
Residents of Virginia have been affected by this scheme, in which bad actors impersonate courts and workers’ compensation professionals to schedule fraudulent hearings and obtain money. The Commission states that the bad actors have been specifically targeting Spanish-speaking individuals.
It is recommended to inform employees that if they receive a request for information and are unsure if it is legitimate, they should not send money or personal information.
How it Works:
- Workers are contacted by phone, email, or video calls, and told they must pay money to receive workers’ compensation benefits or to settle their claims. Some victims have had workers’ compensation claims, while others have not.
- These communications may appear official and may falsely identify the caller as a judge, attorney, or government representative.
- The scammer often requests that the recipient set up an online workers’ compensation hearing on the WhatsApp platform.
- A fraudulent virtual hearing is performed, with a false judge, bailiff, attorney, and prosecutor mimicking a court proceeding.
- The scammer attempts to obtain personal identifying information.
- Following the fake hearing, the targeted individuals are asked for their payment information in order to pay a fee to receive their settlement.
Commission Processes:
Knowing how the Commission processes claims can help users identify fraudulent instructions.
- The Commission only schedules hearings (in-person and virtual) through written letter notifications, which reference Virginia area codes and zip codes.
- The Commission and insurance carriers will never ask for payment to release workers’ compensation benefits. Individuals should never pay money up front for benefits or settlements.
- The Commission will never ask for payment via gift cards, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency.
- Official communications from the Commission will never pressure anyone to act or pay immediately.
- Official Commission virtual hearings are held via the WebEx platform only. More details on the Commission’s virtual hearings can be seen here.
- All attorneys handling workers’ compensation cases in Virginia must be licensed to practice law in Virginia.
- Official forms are available from the Commission’s website. Forms found on other sites or hosts that do not start with https://workcomp.virginia.gov/ should not be trusted.
VRSA Processes:
- VRSA reports all claims through an EDI-encrypted process to the Commission.
- This report triggers correspondence being mailed to the employee from the Commission, explaining their rights and responsibilities. This may be one letter or multiple pieces of correspondence for claims involving medical treatment and lost wages.
- In some cases, injured employees may miss important correspondence, including the request for a hearing, and may believe this fraudulent instruction is that request.
Preventing and Reporting Scams:
Early reporting helps others from becoming victims.
- Contact the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Customer Service Team to assist in verifying the legitimacy of a request or the status of a claim at 877-664-2566 or email questions@workcomp.virginia.gov.
- Report the incident to local law enforcement as soon as possible.
- Preserve emails, voicemails, texts, and payment requests as evidence.
For more information about VRSA’s workers’ compensation benefits and processes, contact your claims representative at 800-963-6800.