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The government warned of fraudulent text messages that have been sent to people telling them that they are eligible for the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) of € 350 per week.
It occurs when it was confirmed that the number of people claiming the payment has dropped for the first time since it was introduced in mid-March.
There are now 589,000 people receiving payment.
That’s 9,000 less than last week in the scheme costing around € 206m per week.
Senior government official Liz Canavan said many of these people are believed to be now receiving payments under the government’s temporary wage subsidy scheme.
He also said that approximately 98,000 people have contacted the Department of Employment and Social Protection Affairs to close their PUP claims.
She said it is possible to do this at www.gov.ie.
Ms. Canavan cautioned that the Department is “aware that some people have received fraudulent text messages, declaring that they are owed a pandemic payment from Covid-19 and asking them to click a link to apply.”
She said: “We want to confirm categorically that these texts are not from the government.”
He added: “Anyone who receives such a text message should not click on the link or reply to the text.” Ms. Canavan described how 53,200 employers are now enrolled in the temporary wage subsidy scheme that covers 456,200 workers.
The cumulative cost of the scheme is now € 878 million.
Ms. Canavan issued a reminder to the public that the Citizen Information Service and the Money Budgeting and Advisory Service (MABS) are still available and offering support during the crisis.
She said the Citizen Information Service can help with issues such as social welfare, housing and family support issues.
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