Hassle free uif a scam

My husband passed away from Covid in July 2020. His employer told me that I could claim death benefit UIF. Because of everything that I was dealing with at the time I contacted Hassle Free UIF to see if they could assist. They assured me they could and I sent them all the necessary documents as well as the fee they charged for their services. They told me that it could take 18 months to be sorted. They even went as far as giving me the name of the Assesor that was dealing with my claim. For the last four months they have not responded to my emails or messages. When the 18 month mark was reached I contacted the department of labour who have informed me that they would not have been able to do the claim on my behalf and that I have been scammed by them. It takes a special kind of unscrupulous person to scam someone who has been recently widowed!