(COLORADO) — The Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) has sent an alert to the public about a fraud scheme related to the State’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP), where people are sent texts asking to sign up for the program at a fake website.

According to DOLA, fraudsters are texting Coloradans to urge them to apply for emergency rental assistance, however, the application is not state-approved and is fake. DOLA assumes the website is collecting personally identifiable information (PII), putting people’s data at risk.

DOLA advises Coloradans to not click links in texts related to applying for rental assistance as the State will never solicit applications for ERAP or gather PII through text.

For current information about ERAP go to RentHelpCO.org.