BEWARE!
The New York State
Division of Consumer Protection (DCP) is alerting New Yorkers to new text
messaging scams seeking payments and sensitive personal information by offering
fake grants, tax refunds, pandemic relief, and unemployment insurance payments.
“Throughout this
public health crisis, scammers have been hard at work preying on unsuspecting
New Yorkers,” said
Secretary of State Rossana Rosado, who oversees the Division of Consumer
Protection. “This latest batch of scams prey on New Yorkers
seeking pandemic relief by spoofing official government agencies. I urge all
New Yorkers to be extra diligent and follow simple steps to keep your money and
personal information safe.”
New York State Labor
Commissioner Roberta Reardon said, “It is deplorable that these scammers are misrepresenting
themselves during a pandemic to prey upon New Yorkers who need assistance in a
time of crisis. New Yorkers must be more vigilant than ever in protecting their
personal information and should never share their Social Security number or
other personal identifiers over social media channels or via text messaging.
Block & report these fraudulent accounts as soon as possible.”
New York
State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said, “While everyone is doing
their best to stay informed throughout the pandemic response, unfortunately
there are those who will seek to prey upon people during their most vulnerable
time. As always, we must make it a habit to consider and verify the source of
unsolicited promotions and monetary offers and keep personal information,
including health information, protected.”
Scammers preying on
consumers’ interest in pandemic relief programs are impersonating state and
federal government agencies by enticing consumers to click on website links
containing official-sounding text such as “pandemic stimulus relief,” “Treasury
Department,” and “government payment.” Consumers may also receive a phone
call claiming they are a victim of identity theft and then receive the alarming
text message, further confirming the “problem.”
After clicking the
links from the text messages, consumers arrive at official looking websites
designed to impersonate federal agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service
or the Social Security Administration and New York State agencies, including
the Department of Labor regarding unemployment payments or the Department of
Health regarding contact tracing. These sites solicit bank information
and other sensitive personal details such as social security numbers, driver’s
license numbers and bank account logins/passwords to enable the consumers to
“accept payment.”
Sample of actual
text messages:
Treasury Fund
Payment: “You have received a direct deposit of $1,200 from COVID-19 Treasury
Fund. Further action is required to accept this payment into your account.”
COVID Relief
Grant: "The IRS has deemed you eligible for the current COVID relief grant
sponsored by the Treasury Clearinghouse, you stand a chance of getting a
minimum of $100000 for being a regular tax payer, agent Davies Gran has been
assigned. Click the link below"
Unemployment
Claim: “You have pending claim of $1,200 from covid-19 TREAS 310 tax
ref. Further action is required to disburse funds. Click here
to confirm payment method:"
Stimulus Help:
"From IRS-GO: You are eligible - Register for COVID-19 Stimulus Help MSG#:
123455668"
Collaborating with
New York State’s Division of Consumer Protection and several federal government
agencies, telecommunications carriers have blocked thousands of these fake text
messages using sophisticated algorithms to look for keywords, malicious
activity, and other trends. As the pandemic continues and the holidays
approach, consumers should be mindful of increasing scam activity.
To prevent falling
victim to these types of scams, please take note of the following tips:
- Do
not click links in suspect texts or emails.
These lead to convincing impersonation websites attempting to collect your
sensitive personally identifiable information.
- Call
the government agency directly to confirm
communications, if you are concerned.
- Hang
up the phone immediately if someone unexpectedly calls
claiming to be from any government agency and threatens police arrest,
deportation or license revocation.
Additional
information related to New York State agencies:
- Text
messages from the New
York State Department of Labor will only come from the
number 468-311 OR via DocuSign. A DOL representative will never reach out
directly through a text message. If someone claims to be a DOL
representative over text, please block and alert the DOL. NEVER give your
SSN over social media – we will NOT ask for this information on social
media. The DOL urges anyone who believes they
have been a victim of fraud to report it immediately at ny.gov/uifraud.
Additional
information related to federal agencies:
- Federal
agencies will typically first initiate contact with constituents via
mail. Federal
agencies do not request personal or financial information through text
message or email and will not ask for credit card
numbers over a phone call they initiate.
- Contact the
agency directly
- Internal
Revenue Service (IRS):1-800-829-1040
- Social
Security Administration (SSA): 1-800-772-1213
If you encounter a marketplace
problem or are concerned about a scam, you are encouraged to call or file a complaint with the Division of Consumer Protection.
The New York State Division of Consumer
Protection serves to educate, assist and empower the State’s consumers. The
Consumer Helpline, 800-697-1220, is available to assist consumers Monday
through Friday, 8:30am-4:30pm.
Consumer complaints can be filed anytime online
at the Division website, www.dos.ny.gov/consumerprotection.
To view consumer alerts, consumers can visit https://www.dos.ny.gov/about/newsroom.html.
The Division can also be reached via Twitter at @NYSConsumer or Facebook at www.facebook.com/nysconsumer.
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