Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity is warning residents of a new scam involving false promises of a state grant and fraudulent requests to pay taxes using gift cards.
In this scam, unsuspecting residents receive a call, an email and/or a letter claiming to be from the Pennsylvania Treasury Department or the Federal Reserve Bank, fraudulently indicating the recipient will be awarded grant money but first must pay taxes. In at least one case, the recipient was told to make the supposed tax payments with gift cards, says a press release.
Treasury does not announce grant awards, and it does not collect taxes. In addition, Treasury will never request a payment be made with a gift card, and neither will any other legitimate government agency, a press release warns.
In one case, an elderly Indiana County resident was initially contacted by telephone and told he would receive a $25,500 grant from the state but had to pay thousands of dollars in taxes first, using gift cards. He purchased the cards, called the scammer back and provided the information needed to access the gift cards. This happened multiple times, said officials.
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