WRS members can be targets of scams and fraud, as well as unsolicited marketing. Here’s how to identify bad apples from legitimate communications about your retirement and other benefits.
The Basics: One System, Two Agencies
Two government agencies manage the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS):
- The Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust Funds (ETF)
- The State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB)
ETF administers your WRS retirement benefits and annuities, as well as health, life, disability, and death benefits.
SWIB oversees the investment strategy of the WRS Trust Funds. SWIB does not have access to your WRS account.
Authorized ETF representatives will never sell you products or services, ask for your credit card number, or meet you at home.
WRS members recently reported receiving emails offering them an appointment to discuss “options with your WRS, WDC, or SRP and/or Social Security benefits.” ETF did not send the communication.
While this may be from legitimate professionals with expertise on retirement and financial planning, they are not ETF representatives.
You should always confirm the source of communication and be cautious of potential scammers who communicate with you via phone, text, email, postal mail, websites, and in-person.
(Related: WRS Third-Party Administrators)
Calls and Texts
If you are skeptical of a call claiming to be about your WRS account, take note of the caller’s name (ask for the spelling) and phone number.
Once you get the details, request to end the call. Then, verify if the previous call was legitimate by contacting ETF’s official number at 1-877-533-5020 (or 001-608-266-3285 if you’re calling outside the U.S.). ETF benefits specialists are available to help you Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-5 p.m. (Central time).
ETF does not send unsolicited marketing messages via text.
Emails and Links
Always check the sender’s email address. An authorized ETF representative will use the agency’s official email address ending in “@etf.wi.gov”.
ETF’s official website URL is “etf.wi.gov”. Look for this domain name to verify that a link you receive is legitimate. This appears in the URLs of almost all our secure pages and applications (for example, “apps.etf.wi.gov”).
There are some notable exceptions:
- If you subscribed to receive WRS-related news, ETF uses the govDelivery system to mass-deliver updates directly to your email. The system uses “etfwi@public.govdelivery.com” as the sender’s email address.
- In some cases, ETF will request that a specific form be submitted online through our secure Box account. This submission form will include the URL “etf.app.box.com”.
To send a secure online message through ETF’s website, visit our Contact Us page and, under the “Send a Secure Email” section, click the category that fits you as a WRS member (e.g., WRS Annuitant, Employee, etc.).
Reporting Fraud
If you believe fraud may have occurred or is about to occur on your WRS account, notify your bank, local law enforcement, and ETF right away.
Visit our Fraud resource page to know more about identity theft, reporting fraud and abuse, and ETF’s response to such reports.
(Related: Ethical Advocate)