These Eight Tips Could Help Prevent a Payment Scam
Imposters Demanding Immediate Payment Through Prepaid Cards Should Be Reported
News Release from National Grid Feb. 8, 2017 CONTACT: Virginia Limmiatis – 315-452-7708
Reported utility billing and payment scams are resurfacing once again in Upstate New York. And National Grid is warning its customers to beware and know the signs of a scam.
Customers who reported the scams say they were contacted by telephone by individuals who claim to be from National Grid and who advised the customers they have a past due balance on their utility bill.
The scammers warn that service will be shut off immediately unless the customer purchases a prepaid debit card in a specific amount, such as Green Dot card, and provides the caller with the card’s account number, or in the case of business customers, by way of a Western Union money transfer. This is a huge warning sign.
The scenario can change, but the goal of the scammer remains the same: scare customers into making hasty, often large payments.
National Grid does contact customers with past due balances by phone to offer payment options, but never demands direct payment through the use of a prepaid debit card and never accepts payment through these cards.
Scam artists have become increasingly sophisticated in replicating National Grid’s recorded messaging and directions for phone prompts, making it more difficult to differentiate an actual National Grid call from an imposter’s call. Similar scams have been reported across the U.S. by other utilities.
Customers who believe they have fallen victim to the scam should contact National Grid and local law enforcement officials immediately.
National Grid urges customers to know the red flags and offers the following tips:
Customers should always contact National Grid using the toll-free telephone numbers listed on the billing statement.If you are provided a phone number that does not match the numbers on the billing statement, it is likely the call is a scam.
Be vigilant. If you believe you are current on your National Grid account, it is highly likely a call seeking payment is a scam.
Protect yourself. Ask the caller to provide the last five digits of your National Grid account number. If the caller doesn’t know your account number and fishes for help, take charge and hang up immediately.
Do not take the bait. Scammers will not have access to your account information, and you should never offer that information if asked.National Grid representatives will know your account number.
National Grid may ask for a payment over the phone, but will leave the method of payment to the customer.
Do not fall for scare tactics and threats. National Grid will not contact customers demanding immediate payment by wire transfer, Green Dot Money-Pak or any other prepaid card service.
Do not cave to pressure. Never — under any circumstances — offer personal or financial information to someone who you cannot identify.
Every National Grid employee carries a photo ID card, and any contractor doing work for the company is also required to carry ID. If someone requesting entry into your home or place of business does not show an ID card, don’t let that person in and please call National Grid or your local law enforcement.
About National Grid
National Grid (LSE: NG; NYSE: NGG) is an electricity and natural gas delivery company that connects nearly 7 million customers to vital energy sources through its networks in New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It is the largest distributor of natural gas in the Northeast. National Grid also operates the systems that deliver gas and electricity across Great Britain.
Through itsU.S. Connect21 strategy, National Grid is transforming its electricity and natural gas networks to support the 21st century digital economy with smarter, cleaner, and more resilient energy solutions. Connect21 is vital to our communities’ long-term economic and environmental health and aligns with regulatory initiatives in New York (REV: Reforming the Energy Vision) and Massachusetts (Grid Modernization).
IF YOU WORKED THIS PAST YEAR, HAVE THE IRS AND NY STATE WORK FOR YOU: THE EARNED INCOME CREDIT
What is the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)?
Since 1975, the EITC has helped working individuals and families get more money back on their taxes. Not only has it help improved the quality of life for individuals and their families, but it has helped raise the quality of life for the surrounding community.
Last year taxpayers across the nation received more than $65 Billion just from the EITC. In New York nearly 1.7 million taxpayers received an average of $2,366 from the EITC. Each year millions of individuals qualify for the EITC for the first time. Find out if you are one of them.
Research suggests that only 80% of taxpayers eligible for the EITC claim it. That means 20% of taxpayers are not receiving the full amount they are entitled to. Do not miss out on your chance to get back what you have earned.
Who is Eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)?
Anyone who files tax returns as Married Filing Jointly, Single, or Head of Household. You may qualify for the EITC if you earned income in 2016. Not only may you be eligible for the EITC from the IRS, but you may also qualify for the EITC from New York State as well.
There are household income limits on eligibility. If you made too much money in 2016 for your household size, you may not be eligible for an EITC refund.
How much do I get back with the EITC?
The amount you may get back generally depends upon the number of people in your household and how much income was earned in 2016. Below is a chart that shows the maximum earned income and adjusted income for each filing status to be eligible for the EITC.
Earned Income and Adjusted Gross income (AGI) must each be less than:
Filing Status
Number of Qualifying Children Claimed
-0-
-1-
-2-
-3 (or more)-
Single, Head of Household, or Widowed
$14,880
$39,296
$44,648
$47,955
Married Filing Joint
$20,430
$44,846
$50,198
$53,505
How do I get the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)?
You have to file a Federal and New York State income tax return.
If you qualify for the EITC you may also be eligible for additional tax credits such as the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) that could lead to larger refund.
Can I get help filing for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)?
Yes, you can get FREE assistance with filing your tax returns, through the VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) Program. These volunteers are certified by the IRS and their service is free.
What if the IRS or NY State rejects or audits my return regarding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)?
The IRS and NY State may require that you prove that you are eligible for the EITC. The Legal Aid Society of Northeastern NY can advise you on what documents are required to prove your EITC eligibility and may be able to represent you in the audit or an appeal.
How to get help:
To find out if we can help, call Legal Aid Society of Northeastern NY at 518-462-6765 or 1-800-462-2922. If you qualify for our services, your case will be referred to our Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic office. Although the Clinic receives funding from the IRS, the clinic, its employees and volunteers are not affiliated with the IRS and a taxpayer’s decision to utilize services from LITC will not affect his or her rights before the IRS. The Low Income Taxpayer Clinic does not generally provide income tax preparation.
First annual report of the White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable – Expanding Access to Justice, Strengthening Federal Programs is now available online at https://www.justice.gov/atj/page/file/913981/download
This report to the President documents how WH-LAIR has worked over the past four years to inspire innovative interagency collaborations that support and protect individuals who are frequently overlooked and often underserved. It also provides dozens of examples of agencies working together and with legal aid to develop programs that advance their common goals. Finally, the report discusses how the WH-LAIR agencies are collaborating with state and local partners to ensure that the most vulnerable among us receive the fair treatment and equal justice that they deserve.
“Area Business leader Ed Swyer and Third Department Presiding Justice, Karen Peters participate in Statewide Hearing on the need for Civil Legal Services in New York State”
ALBANY, N.Y. – On Tuesday September 27th, 2016 Chief Judge of New York will convene a statewide hearing on Civil Legal Services with all four Presiding Justices of New York While regional hearings have been convened in the past, this is the first time panelists from across the state will gather at the NY Court of Appeals to address the need for, and impact of, Judiciary Civil Legal Services funding. It is also the first hearing Chief Judge DiFiore has convened on access to civil legal services.
Among the witnesses will be local business leader Ed Swyer who will testify to the economic and social consequences of the lack of sufficient civil legal services. He is joined by 14 other witnesses including former Chief Judge of New York the Honorable Jonathan Lippman. The complete witness list is attached.
Ed Swyer, President, the Swyer Companies & Stuyvesant Plaza, Inc. has long been a supporter of various civil legal service organizations and related projects throughout the Capital Region.
“As a business leader in the Capital Region, I am concerned not only about the quality of life of our residents—including those seeking legal help—but also, with the economic impact of this assistance. I am keenly aware of the need for those services that provide stability and offer economic support to those most in need. Legal services does just that. Providing legal assistance to those at risk of homelessness, those confronting domestic violence and those in need of economic support not only assists individual families but provides overall stability in the community. We have seen for example how widespread a neighborhood’s devastation can become when just one or two homes on a block go into foreclosure. The impact on the family becomes the impact on the block becomes the impact on the neighborhood and community – driving down housing prices and diminishing tax collections.” (Ed Swyer, Hearing testimony)
The Chief Judge will be joined by all four Presiding Justices of the Appellate Divisions: Acting Presiding Justice Peter Tom of the First Department, Presiding Justice Randall T. Eng of the Second Department, Presiding Justice Karen K. Peters of the Third Department, Presiding Justice Gerald J. Whalen of the Fourth Department, as well as New York State’s Chief Administrative Judge, Lawrence K. Marks, and the President of the New York State Bar Association, Claire Gutekunst.
The hearings have been convened by Chief Judge Di Fiore with the assistance of the members of the Permanent Commission on Access to Justice. Capital Region members of the Commission include: Anne Erickson, President & CEO of the Equal Justice Commission, Lillian Moy, Executive Director of the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York and Camille Siano Enders, Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York.
Lillian Moy notes “It is exciting that Albany will host this first statewide hearing. The witnesses will demonstrate why funding civil legal services makes sense for all of New York as well as the impact that the funding for judicial legal services has had on client’s lives”
The Permanent Commission on Access to Justice, is chaired by former President of the Legal Services Corporation Helaine Barnett. The Commission seeks to further increase the availability of effective legal assistance for New Yorkers grappling with matters affecting their most basic needs. This entails assisting the Chief Judge in holding public hearings relating to its mandate, conducting relevant research and issuing annual reports to the Chief Judge with its findings and recommendations.
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Contact:
Deanne L. Grimaldi
Legal Aid Society of NNY [email protected]
518.860.6629
New Juvenile Reentry Assistance Program (JRAP) will reduce barriers to housing, jobs and education
ALBANY, N.Y. – The Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York (LASNNY), in partnership with the Albany Housing Authority (AHA), announces the launch of its Juvenile Reentry Assistance Program (JRAP). The program assists individuals up to age 24 who are currently residing in public housing or would be residing in public housing but for their involvement with the criminal justice system as they transition back into society and secure jobs and housing. Between 2010 and 2014, 5,502 individuals in the Capital Region were counted in this demographic.
JRAP will provide these young people with access to educational resources, employment placing and other core services afforded to public housing residents in Albany. Those in the program will also work with a staff attorney from LASNNY to assist with legal issues they may be facing. The services will be offered through AHA’s W.A.G.E. Center, located at their central offices on Green Street in Albany. “Providing support and re-entry assistance will reduce barriers to public housing, employment and educational opportunities. Our intention is to support youth in realizing their full potential,” said Wendy Wahlberg, deputy director of strategic operations, LASNNY. “The Albany Housing Authority has always been a valued community partner. Our additional re-entry-focused legal services are a natural complement to the W.A.G.E. Center’s expansive and holistic services for public housing residents.”
The program is the result of a competitive bidding process in which LASNNY and AHA were providers in one of three New York cities awarded the grant by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) this June. It is also consistent with HUD’s recent guidance for Public Housing Authorities and owners of federally-assisted housing on excluding the use of arrest records in housing decisions.
“The JRAP grant provides a second chance for young people, giving them the opportunity to work with the attorney to create a new start,” said Steven T. Longo, executive director, Albany Housing Authority. “Support services such as a Work Experience Program, education and training, available at the W.A.G.E Center provide all the tools necessary for that fresh start.”
“Even though civil legal aid attorneys do not represent defendants in criminal proceedings, they can play an important role in dismantling a system that fuels a cycle of re-incarceration by continuing to punish people long after they have served their time.” said Lillian Moy, executive director, LASNNY
“An encounter with the criminal justice system should not be a lifetime sentence for young people,” said Albany Mayor Kathy M. Sheehan. “Our youth need support to find stable housing and quality jobs when they return home so they can reach their potential and contribute their talents to our community. We thank HUD, the Albany Housing Authority, and the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, who worked to secure this important funding for our city and our youth.”
About Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York: The Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York’s (LASNNY) mission is to provide effective, free civil legal services and education to and advocacy for people with low income or other barriers to accessing the legal system. We secure basic needs, protect and preserve legal rights, provide equal access to justice and seek fairness and dignity for our clients. For more information about LASNNY, visit us at www.lasnny.org.
About Albany Housing Authority: Since its creation in 1948, the Albany Housing Authority has evolved to provide leadership in meeting the needs and aspirations of its residents and their communities. More than just housing, today the Authority offers families a foundation from which to build successful lives, inspiring investment in self and community through quality rental, homeownership, employment and small business opportunities. We are able to partner for those who wish to transform their future, and that of their community, into one of choice. Visit us at www.albanyhousing.org.
Contact:
Deanne L. Grimaldi
Legal Aid Society of NNY [email protected]
518.860.6629
COLUMBIA COUNTY — Low-income individuals in Columbia and Greene counties will have more access to legal aid, thanks to a recent grant to the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York.
The grant will allow the society to “build a technological bridge between urban pro bono volunteers and clients in Columbia and Greene counties and other counties,” said society Executive Director Lillian Moy. “We have great pro bono volunteers.”
The society received a $362,559 Pro Bono Innovation Fund grant from the Legal Services Corp., a nonprofit that describes itself as “the single largest funder of civil legal aid for low-income Americans in the nation.”
The grant “will allow lawyers to conduct online interviews and share documents so they can help review and prepare pleadings for self-represented litigants in housing and consumer law matters,” according to a statement from the society.
“People will be able to do it from their computers at work or home,” Moy said. “The client would be interviewed by a pro bono volunteer in Albany.”
Also included in the grant are Legal Assistance of Western New York and the Volunteer Legal Services Project of Monroe County.
Clients would call the legal aid society’s toll-free number, and if not enough staff is available to represent them, the clients might be connected with a pro bono volunteer in Albany.
“The lawyer will fill out a digital form and generate a pleading that the client can take to court by themselves,” Moy said. “A lot of the work the lawyers will do will be in building interview questions.” Clients may be going into court without an attorney, but they will have a piece of paper that provides defenses with “the reasons you shouldn’t be evicted, the reasons you don’t owe the money. I believe it’s better for a person to get good advice than to go in cold,” Moy said.
Public defenders are generally only called in for criminal cases, she said. “Being evicted and homeless is serious, but not considered the same by the state,” Moy said.
It will take six months or a year to build the technical bridge, she said.
The service depends on having access to a computer and the Internet, so Moy said they will be relying on partners like Columbia Opportunities.
In another legal aid news item, a hearing on expanding access to civil legal aid will take place at 10 a.m. today at the Court of Appeals Building, 20 Eagle St.
Speakers will include a bishop, a rabbi, a pastor, a taxpayer advocate, an immigration law professor, and the director of the Albany Public Library.
The following witnesses will testify at the Chief Judge’s Hearing on Tuesday morning:
The Most Reverend Edward B. Scharfenberger, Bishop, Albany Roman Catholic Diocese; Rabbi Scott Shpeen, Congregation Beth Emeth; the Rev. David Traynham o/b/o Superintendent McKinley Johnson, Pastor of the Greater St. John’s Church of God in Christ; Nina E. Olsen, IRS Taxpayer Advocate; Philip A. Burse, In Our Own Voices, Inc.; Professor Sarah Rogerson (Director, Immigration Law Clinic, Director, Law Clinic & Justice Center, Albany Law School); and Scott C. Jarzombek (Executive Director, Albany Public Library).
NYS Attorney General Eric Schneiderman spoke about home foreclosure assistance at the LASNNY Plattsburgh office on July 13. Several media outlets covered the event.
For the last 40 years, Earned Income Tax Credit has made life better for millions of workers. You may have extra money waiting for you! If you qualify and claim the credit, it could be worth as much as $6,143 from the IRS and $1,842 from New York State.
One in five miss out on claiming these credits. Don’t let this happen to you. If you earned less than $52,427 in 2014, then check it out.
Finding out if you qualify is easy with the EITC Assistant, available in late January on IRS.GOV. Just answer questions about yourself and family members to see if you qualify and estimate the amount of your credit. EITC eligibility depends on several factors, including income and family size. You don’t have to have children to qualify but you must file your taxes. If you don’t have a qualifying child and earned under $20,000, you may qualify for a smaller credit, worth as much as $496.
You may qualify for free help to prepare and file your taxes. Use the VITA locator tool on IRS.GOV to find a volunteer site near you. You may qualify for free legal services for your income tax matter. If you think that you have been wrongly denied the EITC credit or are having another problem with the IRS, contact the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York’s Low Income Taxpayer Clinic at 518-462-6765 or 1-800-462-2922. The Clinic does not generally provide tax return preparation services.
