The Vermont Department of Labor is warning residents who filed for unemployment to be careful of scams that have recently emerged online. These phishing attempts are happening nationally through social media, according to alerts from the National Unemployment Insurance Fraud Task Force. Fraudulent social media pages are attempting to communicate directly with people who have claimed unemployment insurance. Vermont labor officials are warning residents to only contact the department's office through official or verified means. How to detect unemployment scams Vermont's Labor Department issued a series of tips to ensure Vermonters avoid falling victim to the scam attempts. Vermont's Department of Labor will never charge a fee to file unemployment claims. Any call in which the person claims to be from the Labor Department and asks for payment is a scam. Department officials say they will never ask for payment over the phone to establish or review an unemployment claim.