State Treasurer Stacy Garrity warned Pennsylvanians Monday that scammers are targeting residents in a new scam involving false promises of a state grant and fraudulent requests to pay taxes using gift cards.

In the scam, 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 that 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.

“This is a vile and outrageous scam,” Garrity said. “Fraudsters and scammers are despicable criminals who will stop at nothing to exploit innocent people to steal their hard-earned money. I urge everyone to be extra suspicious of any communication that seems too good to be true.”

Treasury does not announce grant awards, and it does not collect taxes. In addition, Treasury will never request that a payment be made with a gift card - and neither will any other legitimate government agency.

In one case, an elderly Indiana County resident was initially contacted by telephone and told that 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.

If you or anyone you know has received suspicious correspondence claiming to be from the Pennsylvania Treasury Department, contact Treasury at https://www.patreasury.gov/contact/ or by calling 717-787-2465.