Recently, fliers have been circulating on social media advertising assistance with applying for Section 8 funding. The flyer and website ‘www.govassistance[dot]org’ are NOT legitimate. The scam aims to take advantage of Section 8 applicants to obtain their personal information to facilitate fraudulent activity.

Please be vigilant. Legitimate local housing search resources and best practices for cybersecurity include:

• If it seems too good to be true, it probably is
• Never click on a hyperlink if you are unsure if it is legitimate or without verifying with a trusted source, and
• Never submit Social Security Numbers, bank / cred card information, or other personal details to a website found through an online search

Individuals who fall victim to this or similar scams can file a complaint at the Internet Crime Compliant Center (IC3): https://www.ic3.gov/. Additionally, if someone reaches out to you about a scam involving HUD, please reach out to our Computer Incident Response Team (CIRT) at CIRT@hud.gov.