WorkForce West Virginia says some receiving fraudulent texts

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — WorkForce West Virginia says some people in the state are reporting they have received fraudulent texts offering payments.

The text messages claim to be associated with the Job Jumpstart Program and say the recipient has a payment available, then asks the person to click on a link. The website is also fraudulent and dangerous, WorkForce said.

The agency, which is a division of the state Department of Commerce, said it does not send text messages to Job Jumpstart applicants or claimants. The text messages are fraudulent and shouldn’t be responded to or clicked, the agency said in a news release.

“The WorkForce West Virginia fraud unit is working diligently to stop this fraudulent text message from reaching more people,” said Scott Adkins, commissioner of WorkForce West Virginia.