Memorandum  #25: New Fraud Prevention Poster

Date:	12/13/2019
Referenced Sources:	PERAC Website

PERAC Memo #25, 2019

To All Retirement Boards:

TO:                  All Retirement Boards

FROM:            John W. Parsons, Esq., Executive Director

RE:                  New Fraud Prevention Poster

DATE:             December 10, 2019

In accordance with statutory requirements, the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission (PERAC) maintains a toll-free hotline for the reporting of suspected fraudulent public pension claims, payments, falsified records, and affidavits. 

The hotline number is 1-800-445-3266. All messages are kept confidential. 

Since 1998, PERAC has promoted the hotline through poster campaigns built around various slogans: “This Is A Losing Hand”; “Pension Fraud Is Stealing”; “Pension Fraud! Let’s Cut it Out!”; “Stop Pension Fraud. It is not a Game” and “One Bad Apple Can Spoil the Whole Bunch.”

This year’s campaign is “Blow the Whistle on Pension Fraud.” The poster prominently features our hotline as well as our email address for reporting any suspected fraud. Since we first introduced the email address, [e-mail], it has remained a popular means of communication for reporting suspected fraud. You can also report fraud on our website at mass.gov/forms/online-fraud-referral-form.

We are enclosing three posters for your use. Please display them in your office and other locations in your building that provide maximum visibility.  We have also enclosed three copies of a brochure that informs readers about the PERAC Fraud Prevention Unit and provides some details about various types of pension fraud. Three copies of PERAC's “Referral Report of Potential Fraud” forms are provided as well. Your staff should use these forms to report instances of suspected public pension fraud to PERAC's Fraud Prevention Unit. You should also make copies of the form available to anyone else who wishes to report suspected public pension fraud. 

Please note that county and regional retirement systems will receive, under separate cover, copies of the fraud prevention materials to distribute to the local governmental units with which they interact.  

For additional copies of the poster, brochure, or form, please feel free to contact our Communications Director, Natacha Dunker, at 617-666-4446, extension 970 or at [e-mail].

The Commission sincerely appreciates your cooperation in this endeavor. 

Encl.

Commission Members

Philip Y Brown, Esq., Chairman
Auditor Suzanne M. Bump
Kathleen M. Fallon
Kate Fitzpatrick
James M. Machado
Robert B. McCarthy
Jennifer F. Sullivan