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There's A New Spin On Gift-Card Scams, FTC Warns There's A New Spin On Gift-Card Scams, FTC Warns
There's A New Spin On Gift-Card Scams, FTC Warns The Federal Trade Commission is warning of a new spin on a well-known scam involving gift cards. You’ve probably heard the stories: a victim receives a call, email or even a text message requesting funds for a seemingly legitimate and worthy cause. The victim is asked to send gift cards or otherwise transfer money to the scammer, who then disappears without a trace. The FTC says scammers are now pretending to be religious officials - pastors, rabbis, priests or bishops - and are asking worshipers for gift card contributions. “Appeals are often made by email, but we’ve heard people are also…

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by Valerie Musson
News
Police Agencies In Area Warn Of Phone, IRS Scams Making The Rounds Police Agencies In Area Warn Of Phone, IRS Scams Making The Rounds
Police Agencies In Area Warn Of Phone, IRS Scams Making The Rounds Police agencies in the area are warning area residents to be wary as a new phone scam has been making the rounds in the area. A Mount Kisco woman reported to Westchester County Police investigators that she had been scammed out of $4,000 by a person claiming to be from the IRS late last month. According to the woman, she received a call saying that she was in tax arrears and she proceeded to follow the fraudster’s instructions to purchase gift cards and call back with the numbers associated with them. “Westchester County Police remind residents that the IRS will not contact taxpayers by ph…

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by Zak Failla
Lifestyle
Here's How Many Robocalls New Yorkers Were Bombarded With In April Here's How Many Robocalls New Yorkers Were Bombarded With In April
Here's How Many Robocalls New Yorkers Were Bombarded With In April Robocalls continue to be a scourge for New Yorkers, with millions of callers being flooded by calls “at all hours of the day and night.” In April, New Yorkers received 290.3 million robocalls, which is an average of 112 calls per second and 11 calls per New Yorker. In April, there were 176 million robocalls made to numbers in New York City and Long Island, and there have been more than 720 million robocalls reported since the year started, according to Sen. Chuck Schumer. In response, Schumer is backing legislation that would give federal investigators the tools to trace, prosecute and fi…

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by Zak Failla
News
Here's How Kids Can Make Sure Grandparents Don't Fall For This All-Too Familiar Scam Here's How Kids Can Make Sure Grandparents Don't Fall For This All-Too Familiar Scam
Here's How Kids Can Make Sure Grandparents Don't Fall For This All-Too Familiar Scam Police are educating children and young adults on the ways they can prevent their grandparents from becoming victims of phone scams. These types of scams typically begin when the victim receives a call, usually in the middle of the night. The caller often visits the social media profiles of the victims ahead of time so that they can make the call seem legitimate by providing names, phone numbers and other relevant details. The caller’s story will change with each victim - they got arrested, they got into an accident, etc. - but the request for money is what’s consistent. Victims are typical…

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by Valerie Musson
News
State Attorney General Issues Alert On Scams As Tax Day Nears State Attorney General Issues Alert On Scams As Tax Day Nears
State Attorney General Issues Alert On Scams As Tax Day Nears As April 15 approaches, the State Attorney General has issued an alert regarding tax scams. “Tax season is ripe with opportunity for scammers to prey on hardworking New Yorkers,” said Attorney General Letitia James. “These bad actors use a wide range of tactics to illegally cheat residents out of their money, including individuals who impersonate the IRS and businesses that bait-and-switch their tax preparation services." Tax scams come in many different forms, but some of the most common types include: Scammers impersonating the U.S. Treasury Department, the IRS, the Taxpa…

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by Valerie Musson
Police & Fire
Warning Issued For Scam Callers Pretending To Be State Police Warning Issued For Scam Callers Pretending To Be State Police
Warning Issued For Scam Callers Pretending To Be State Police Have you gotten a call from the state police? It’s likely to be a scam, according to a new warning issued by New York State Police. The warning, released on Tuesday, April 9, states that the department has received information that a group of individuals are contacting Westchester residents and identifying themselves as New York State Police. The caller then requests the recipient’s personal information, such as Social Security numbers, and demands payment through money orders or gift card purchases. The caller ID of these scam calls is often rigged to reflect the actual number for a State…

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by Valerie Musson
Police & Fire
Don't Fall For Them: Alert Issued For These Scams Don't Fall For Them: Alert Issued For These Scams
Don't Fall For Them: Alert Issued For These Scams Residents in the area are being warned about scams that seem to be on the increase. The scams provide ways for criminals will attempt to get money from people by contacting them and making up elaborate stories, the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office said in the warning to residents of Dutchess and nearby counties in New York and Connecticut. In some cases the perpetrators have tried, sometimes successfully, to use the victim’s emotions about a loved one in trouble to get money.  It’s common for the perpetrators of these scams to try to get money by telling people that one of their …

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by Daily Voice
News
Alert Issued For Fraudsters Posing As Con Ed Employees In Westchester Alert Issued For Fraudsters Posing As Con Ed Employees In Westchester
Alert Issued For Fraudsters Posing As Con Ed Employees In Westchester Although the holiday season may be over, police in Westchester are warning local residents to be wary as opportunistic fraudsters have been making the rounds posing as Con Edison employees. The Eastchester Police Department issued an alert this week cautioning that scammers have been pretending to be Con Ed employees, utilizing a myriad of scams to take advantage of area customers. Investigators said that the latest scam involves smart meters, which were introduced to New York in 2017. Police said that customers should be aware that Con Edison does not require a deposit for the installatio…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Scam Alert: 'Spoofing' Calls Being Made By Scammers Pretending To Be Cops, Municipal Officials Scam Alert: 'Spoofing' Calls Being Made By Scammers Pretending To Be Cops, Municipal Officials
Scam Alert: 'Spoofing' Calls Being Made By Scammers Pretending To Be Cops, Municipal Officials Police are alerting residents to a "spoofing" scam in which the callers pretend to be police officers or other municipal officers in an attempt to solicit money and sensitive personal information. On Friday, Jan. 25, a town resident reported receiving a suspicious phone call that appeared to originate from the Greenburgh Police Department, Chief Chris McNerney said on Saturday, Jan. 26.  The caller claimed to be a Greenburgh police officer and wanted to discuss the woman's credit report.  "Fortunately, the resident became suspicious and hung up the phone," McNerney said. "We…

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by Daily Voice
News
Don't Fall For It: This Social Security Number Scam Has Cost 35K Victims $10 Million, FTC Says Don't Fall For It: This Social Security Number Scam Has Cost 35K Victims $10 Million, FTC Says
Don't Fall For It: This Social Security Number Scam Has Cost 35K Victims $10 Million, FTC Says A consumer alert has been issued about a new phone scam that has already cost tens of thousands of victims millions. Imposters pretending to be from the Social Security Administration call victims and tell a fake story about their Social Security number being compromised in an attempt to obtain personal information, according to the Federal Trade Commission.  In 2018, the scam cost 35,000 victims $10 million. “To compare: in 2017, we heard from 3,200 people about SSA imposter scams, and those people reported losing nearly $210,000,” the FTC said in a statement. Th…

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by Joe Lombardi
Lifestyle
Westchester Consumer Protection Department Warns Against Senior Scams Westchester Consumer Protection Department Warns Against Senior Scams
Westchester Consumer Protection Department Warns Against Senior Scams With families celebrating “Grandparents Day” over this past weekend, the Westchester Consumer Protection Department is hoping to help seniors avoid falling victim to scams. Each year, opportunistic fraudsters look to defraud and take advantage of older generations, utilizing what has come to be dubbed as the “Grandparent Scam.” According to police and consumer protection advocates, seniors are often targets of scammers and con artists, who prey on seniors’ potential vulnerability and take advantage of them being frequently accessible at home. One such scam sees the con man calling the seni…

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by Zak Failla
Lifestyle
Police in Area Issue New Advisory About Return Of Phone Scam Police in Area Issue New Advisory About Return Of Phone Scam
Police in Area Issue New Advisory About Return Of Phone Scam Beware. It's happening again.  Those scam calls with a person on the other end saying one of your grandchildren have been in an accident, arrested or is in trouble and they need money to stay "out of court" are making the rounds once again. The suspects will then put a child on the phone that is usually crying and quickly asks the grandparent for help and then has the phone taken away. The grandparents are then told not to call anybody or the deal is off. The grandparents are instructed to get cash or gift cards to turn over to suspects. According to police, a number of grandpar…

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by Kathy Reakes