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The scammers pretended to be staff members of the Pennsylvania Department of "Labour" and Industry in an attempt to get workers’ social security numbers or unemployment claim numbers, a department spokesperson told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The fraudsters then use that personal information to steal victims' unemployment benefits or commit other forms of identity theft, department spokesperson Sarah DeSantis said told the news outlet.
“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.”
The bogus page -- which used the British spelling of the word "labor" -- has since been removed, officials said.
There has been an uptick in similar scams since Congress extended federal unemployment benefits, officials said.
Pennsylvania officials are working with Facebook and law enforcement to remove fraudulent pages. Anyone who comes across a suspicious page is urged to flag it for review.
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