The U.S. Attorneyâs Office for the Southern District of Florida and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations are warning taxpayers about a new wave of COVID-related scams as the agency delivers the second round of economic impact payments.
The scams include text messages asking taxpayers to disclose bank account information under the guise of receiving the $1,200 payments, phishing schemes using email, letters and social media messages with key words such as âCoronavirus,â âCOVID-19,â and âstimulusâ in varying ways, and the organized and unofficial sale of fake at-home COVID-19 test kits and offers to sell fake cures, vaccines, pills, and professional medical advice regarding unproven COVID-19 treatments.
Grand Rapids, Michigan Michael David Stamp of Decatur, Michigan, was sentenced to 96 months in federal prison for bank fraud and federal farm program fraud. U.S. District Judge Paul L. Maloney imposed the sentence. He also sentenced Stamp to five years of supervised release and ordered him to pay more than $17 million in restitution to Wells Fargo Bank, the U.S. Department of Agriculture s Risk Management Agency, and U.S.D.A. s Farm Service Agency. Mr. Stamp fraudulently obtained $68 million in bank loans and took advantage of government programs funded by U.S. taxpayers. Today s sentence should serve as a reminder that defrauding public programs and providing false or misleading documents to financial institutions are serious crimes that undermine our financial system and will not be tolerated, said Sarah Kull, Special Agent in Charge, IRS-Criminal Investigations.
Officials sound alarm over wave of COVID vaccine, stimulus check scams
Updated Jan 20, 2021;
Authorities on Tuesday warned of a wave of scams that use bogus claims of offering coronavirus vaccines and COVID-19 stimulus payments to swindle unsuspecting victims.
In some of the scams targeting senior citizens, con artists promise early access to the coronavirus vaccine in return for money, according to Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni. The fraudsters pose as doctors, insurance companies or other medical facilities with calls that falsely claim a vaccine can be shipped and ask for various personal information to falsely check if a victim can “qualify” for the shot.