Sinister Scam Could Swindle Thousands from Central New York Taxpayers

Watch out, a dangerous scam is making the rounds in the Mohawk Valley.

The Oneida County Sheriff's Office has caught wind of a brand new scam that sounds almost too good to be true, and people are falling for it.

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Scammers are claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service and directly texting residents with an urgent message.

The message reads:

You are eligible to receive a $1,400 Economic Impact Payment. Please provide your accurate personal information. We will deposit the amount into your bank account or mail a paper check within 1 to 2 business days.

The reason why Sheriff Rob Maciol is raising the alarm is because this scam is pretty plausible.

Last year, Governor Kathy Hochul proposed in her State of the State address inflation refund checks for state residents.

In addition, the IRS announced that individuals who did not receive the third and final stimulus check in their 2021 tax returns could still receive it. However, those who read the fine print would find that only a million Americans were eligible for the payment.

That is what the scammer is counting on. They hope to snag people who had seen the headlines about the stimulus checks but weren't aware of all the strings attached.

They are also counting on their victim not knowing how the IRS reaches out to taxpayers, which is why the Oneida County Sheriff's Office issued its stern warning.

The IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text messages or social media channels to request personal or financial information.

Clicking on the link could lead to malware being installed on your personal device. Those who input their personal and banking information also risk having their identity fraudulently used and their savings drained.

Those who received similar messages are urged to mark the message as spam and delete it.

Scammers are always looking for new ways to dupe innocent victims and are getting better at masking their intent.

Read More: These Are the Scams New Yorkers Are Falling for Most

Residents are urged to stay vigilant and to never give their personal or financial information to strangers over the phone.

 

The Oneida County Sheriff's Office encourages residents to reach out to police if a scammer approaches them so that authorities can spread the word of the new scheme to hopefully protect others from falling for it.