July 2022

Beware of UIA Text Message Phishing Scam!

If you have filed for unemployment benefits and receive a text message claiming to be from the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA), ignore it – it’s a scam. UIA does not use text messaging to correspond with claimants.

The Agency’s anti-fraud investigators have learned of a recent phishing scheme to try to steal money and personal information from Michigan workers who have lost jobs through no fault of their own. The text message comes from an out-of-state phone number and provides a link to claim back payments. Do not click on the link. Report it as junk or spam and delete the text.

UIA communicates with claimants through their Michigan Web Account Manager (MiWAM) account, letters mailed to the current address on file or by phone.

Here are 10 tips from the UIA to protect your personal information:

• Scrutinize the webpage URL or link that you receive. If it is not an official Michigan.gov website, do not use it.
• If you do not trust a website or information, call UIA’s Customer Service at 1-866-500-0017 to verify what you are seeing.
• You should only link to UIA information or services through gov/UIA.
• UIA will never ask a claimant to provide logins, passwords or banking information.
• UIA will never ask a claimant to send information to our personal emails.
• UIA will never ask a claimant to text information back.
• Keep your MiLOGIN and MiWAM information secure, do not provide it to anyone.
• If someone calls and you are suspicious about the intent, hang up and call UIA at 1-866-500-0017 and request staff to send information to you through your MiWAM account.
• If a caller provides information that sounds too good to be true, it likely is. Hang up.
• Make sure your contact information is current should UIA staff need to reach you.

If you suspect fraud or identity theft, report it by clicking on the Report Fraud and Identity Theft link at Michigan.gov/UIA and fill out a referral form. Be sure to fill out all the information and make sure it is current. Staff will respond to you in a timely manner. A UIA video explains how to report identity theft.

Get Job Ready in Six Months with a Google Career Certificate Scholarship Scholarships for the new Google Career Certificates are now available, and the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity’s Office of Employment and Training is excited to help bring these scholarships to our state. The Google Career Certificate program can help you get on the fast track to a competitively paid job in a high-growth field. You don’t need relevant experience or a degree to complete this flexible, online job training. Just put the skills, passion, and ambition you already have to work. Explore what the program has to offer at grow.google/certificates. Learn more about how the Google Career Certificates work to put you on the path to in-demand jobs. Learn how you can earn a Google Career Certificate for FREE by contacting your local Michigan Works! office at MichiganWorks.org. Designed by Google, this self-paced, online training program can prepare you for careers in the high-growth fields of project management, user experience (UX) design, data analytics, and IT support. And with under 10 hours spent studying a week, you can be prepped for a new career in under six months!  Once you graduate from the Google Career Certificate program, you can connect directly with over 150 top U.S. employers to jump-start your job search.  There are more than 1.27 million job openings across Certificate fields and the demand is growing! Earn a credential and stand out to employers with a Google Career Certificate. BSBP Sits Down With CTN Ann Arbor Last month, a Bureau of Services for Blind Person (BSBP) representative sat down with CTN Ann Arbor’s Tom Hoatlin to discuss the services BSBP provides.  BSBP provides vocational skills training to aid in finding a job and training in daily living skills for State of Michigan residents living without vision. Depending upon your needs and eligibility for specific services, BSBP may also provide some types of adaptive equipment, computer software, and postsecondary education. Watch the interview here. And learn more about BSBP, including the types of services they offer, at Michigan.gov/BSBP.

She Saw a Problem and Went Back to School to Do Something About It Many people in Harlyn’s community have struggled to find affordable housing – and she wanted to do something about it. Her plan? Start her own construction company building low-income residential housing developments in Northern Michigan. That dream could only become a reality once she earned a degree in Construction Management, but the cost of tuition and transportation posed a significant challenge. That’s when Northwest Michigan Works! and MiLEAP entered the picture. The local Michigan Works! team assessed Harlyn’s situation and enrolled her in the Michigan Learning & Education Advancement Program (MiLEAP). MiLEAP provided tuition assistance and fuel cards to help Harlyn get where she wanted to go – literally and figuratively. “MiLEAP has also helped me get the Michigan Residential Code book so I can study to take my builder’s license exam,” she said. Thanks to MiLEAP, Harlyn is now a giant leap closer to her dream: “I am so grateful for the amazing help I have received.” Learn more about MiLEAP at Michigan.gov/MiLEAP.   The Federal Program That’s Helping Improve Michigander’s Lives When you go back to school to continue your education, you’re not only improving your life, you’re also setting an example for your children. Setting that example was on Simrat’s mind when she took advantage of the Trade Adjustment Assistance program to go back to school. The Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) is a federal program that assists workers who have lost or may lose their jobs as a result of foreign trade. TAA provides adversely-affected workers with opportunities to obtain the skills, credentials, resources and support necessary to become reemployed. This includes job training, career counseling, wage supplements for older workers, job search and relocation allowances, and income support for workers in an approved training program. TAA has already helped numerous Michiganders, including Simrat. Watch this short video to see how TAA was able to help her. And for more information about TAA, go to Michigan.gov/TAA.