Scammers are nothing new in Western New York and officials are warning local residents about two new tactics that are being used. It is normal to see more scam attempts during tax season, but one of these doesn't even have anything to do with the IRS or your taxes.

  1.  The National Grid Scam – Buffalo Police have been getting calls about businesses and residents getting calls and someone pretending to be National Grid representatives and unless you pay their fake bill, your utilities will be shut off.
  2. The Fake Tax Preparer – Scammers say that they are tax preparers and even have a website to help verify whether or not a tax preparer is registered online. Typically they say that you will need to pay them right away for them to do your taxes, or you'll have to pay a percentage of your 'refund' to them immediately.

Scammers may make 100's of phone calls a day and you may think 'who would actually fall for this?', but a scammer only needs one person to fall for their act for a great payday of a few hundred or even thousands of dollars.

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