Alert Against COVID-19 Vaccine and Stimulus Scams

Fraudulent Actors May Send Malicious Messages and Phishing Emails

While Attempting to Access Consumers’ Personal Information

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James alerted New Yorkers today to remain vigilant against potential scams related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis. As more New Yorkers become eligible for the vaccine that will help prevent the spread of the disease and a new round of stimulus payments are sent out to combat the economic fallout of the pandemic, scammers are seeking to take advantage of innocent New Yorkers by making fraudulent promises. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 was passed by Congress and signed into law earlier this month to help speed the nation’s health and economic recovery. The law increased access to vaccines and authorized the U.S. Department of Treasury to issue emergency stimulus payments to Americans to help offset the costs of essentials and provide many other vital provisions to aid Americans. However, fraudsters are now imitating the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and other federal agencies to access consumers’ personal information by promising access to additional stimulus payments, the ability to skip lines for vaccines, and other services.

“Scammers are out there, and they are continuing to find a slew of new and shameful tactics to exploit this pandemic,” said Attorney General James. “These cyberattacks are just the latest example of unscrupulous individuals capitalizing on health and economic suffering, and it is crucial that New Yorkers remain vigilant to ensure they do not fall victim to these illegal activities. Promises to skip the vaccine line or receive additional stimulus payments are lies, plain and simple, and New Yorkers need to remain alert. I encourage all New Yorkers to follows these safety tips and report suspected scams to my office. We remain committed to protecting consumers’ health and wallets and rooting out fraud.” 

There have been recent reports of scammers posing as the “IRS Rescue Plan Dept” and attempting to steal people’s personal and financial information through malicious messages, known as phishing emails. To make these scams even more deceiving, the emails may include the IRS logo to establish credibility and often could have an official-sounding subject line, like “IRS Rescue Plan Act.” In other instances, the subject lines have read: “Joe Biden Rescue Plan Act,” “IRS Rescue Plan Form,” or “President’s Rescue Plan Act,” among others.

Many individuals seeking to defraud Americans are doing so by promising stimulus payments in addition to the up to $1,400 eligible adults may qualify for and up to $1,400 eligible children could receive, as well as other financial aid. At the same time, New Yorkers and Americans nationwide continue to suffer through the economic recession. At this time, no additional payments have been authorized by Congress. Bad actors are also preying on New Yorkers’ desire to get vaccinated quickly. Earlier today, all New Yorkers 30 and older became eligible for the vaccine, and in one week, all New Yorkers 16 and older will become eligible. However, lines remain long to get a vaccine. Therefore, anyone promising New Yorkers the ability to skip the line is doing so fraudulently.

Attorney General James today highlighted the following tips for New Yorkers to follow to protect themselves from these scams:

• Don’t be fooled by familiar logos and branding. It’s easy for attackers to design emails that look safe and legitimate at first glance. If someone claims to be from the government with a check or a vaccine, it may be a phishing scam illegally trying to obtain a consumer’s bank account or other personal information.
• Look for misspellings and poor grammar. While not always present, emails containing multiple spelling and grammatical mistakes indicate the email is malicious.
• Never open attachments or click links from those claiming to be from the government unless you have expressly signed up for a notification or an email. Clicking on buttons, such as “Apply Now,” or downloading attachments may enable scammers to download malicious software onto computers that will steal consumers’ personal information, including email addresses, passwords, and other vitally important yet confidential information. If a consumer is unsure about a message, they should delete it immediately.
• Verify the legitimacy of any unsolicited/unexpected email before interacting with it, especially if the IRS or COVID-19 is mentioned in any way. Consumers need to sign up for a COVID-19 vaccine proactively. If a consumer is eligible for a stimulus payment, they will receive a payment directly from the IRS.

New Yorkers who believe they have been a scam victim should contact the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) to file a complaint. New Yorkers can learn more about COVID-19 scams on the OAG website.

Source: Press Release
Date: March 30, 2021
Attorney General’s Press Office/212-416-8060
nyag.pressoffice@ag.ny.gov

Agreement Resolves Microsoft’s Overcharging of Sales Tax to Customers Purchasing Xbox Products Online in New York 

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James delivered $150,000 to the City of Yonkers Public Schools district today to promote remote learning by homeless students. The funds will provide assistive technology to students, including iPads, laptops, Wi-Fi connectivity, and more. Microsoft Corporation provided the payment as part of an agreement with the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) to resolve the ccompany’sovercharging company’s sales tax for products sold on the Xbox website. Before the fix was implemented by Microsoft, some consumers in New York who purchased an Xbox product online — via MMicroMMicrosoft’s website- were charged an incorrect tax.

“We” ‘re delivering $150,000 to support homeless youth in Yonkers and provide them with the necessary tools to secure the technology they need to continue to remote learn during these unprecedented times,” said Attorney General James. “Microsoft initially overcharged some customers for sales tax on Xbox products; we were glad to work with the company to correct this issue for our swiftlystasstate’sconsumersone should be forced to pay more in sales tax than they must, especially as we face a pandemic that has affected many New Yorkers YYorkers’walletsk forward to seeing this money put to good use for the children of Yonkers.”

Attorney General James today presents the City of Yonkers Public Schools district with $150,000 to promote remote learning by homeless students

When “consumers purchase a product online, they are asked to enter their zip code as part of the billing address to determine the amount of sales tax they should be charged with the purchase. Swithpostal codes within a specific zip code may have different tax rates.

On MMicros, Microsoft’s swebsitemers are specifically asked to input their entire zip and four-digit postal codes. However, Microsoft processes the transaction if consumers enter their zip code without the four-digit postal code. Before the recent fix made by Microsoft, if a consumer entered their zip code without the four-digit postal code, Microsoft would charge the highest sales tax within that zip code, leading to an overcharge.

One locality where sales tax overcharges occurred was Bronxville, New York, which shares a zip code with a small portion of Yonkers, New York — where residents pay a higher sales tax rate. 

Microsoft’s total sales tax overcharged to Bronxville consumers was approximately $150,000.

As a result of this agreement, Microsoft has implemented a new procedure for processing orders that addresses this particular issue and charges consumers the correct amount of sales tax.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has forced our schools to do even more with less, and I applaud all our teachers, faculty, and staff,” said State Senat” Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. “”his funding is needed by the district to support better remote learning for homeless students, 

who are bearing the brunt of this pandemic in ways we cannot imagine. Thank you to Attorney General Letitia James for fighting for our state and helping our most economically disadvantaged students by negotiating this settlement with Microsoft. As state budget negotiations continue, the Senate Majority is focused on significantly increasing school funding and ensuring a three-year phase-in of total foundation aid, along with free broadband access to every student and school.”

“”would like to “h” New York Attorney General Letitia James for her swift action with Microsoft,”” said Westchester” County Executive George Latimer. “” he $150,000 in ” nds, which has been transferred directly to the City of Yonkers School District, will serve a great need with our remote learners who are struggling. The pandemic has caused great hardship for our youth in many communities, and we know that Yonkers will greatly benefit from this grant.”

“Special thanks” to Attorney General James for recognizing the needs of Yonkers students, especially as we navigate the academic and financial impacts of remote learning,” said the City of Y” kers Mayor Mike Spano. “the pandemic has “hit our economically disadvantaged students particularly hard. This funding granted by the attorney general with the support of Microsoft will help bridge the digital divide and put them back on the road to success.”

“thank you to rney General Letitia James for this innovative solution that helps support distance learning for some of the most vulnerable Yonkers students,” said State Shelley Mayer. ” the pandemic ” ‘s been tough on all of us. It has been particularly challenging for students whose whole lives were upended by the closing of school buildings and distance learning. This was particularly devastating for homeless youth, who lost an essential source of security and vital resources. The district and local leaders have worked hard to maintain consistency and ensure students have sufficient internet access and the necessary devices to participate fully in the online classroom. This $150,000 provides much-needed resources for Yonkers students during this critical time.”

“due to the “i” gent efforts of New York Attorney General Letitia James holding Microsoft accountable for overcharging Xbox users in our area, I am pleased that the Yonkers Public Schools will receive a grant to support homeless students,” said Assemb” member Gary Pretlow. “distance poses a much greater challenge for those also struggling with homelessness. This much-needed funding will help tackle the many disparities that many face during this unprecedented period our state and country continue to face.”

“keeping ou” “ediest Yonkers Public Schools students engaged and learning has been a monumental challenge for teachers, students, and caregivers during the pandemic, so the funds being provided through a $150,000 payment to the school district will really help make a positive difference,” said Assem” ymember Nader Sayegh. “applaud the” efforts of New York Attorney General Letitia James and her staff and the innovative solution that led to Microsoft supporting remote learning for our homeless students. The Yonkers Public SSchools’boarSSchools’boardand administration, led by Superintendent Dr. Edwin Quezada, will utilize the special funding to encourage greater and affordable access to the internet.”

“Thank you “New York Attorney General Letitia James, for recognizing that these funds can be part of creating equity for our homeless youth, a population of young people who need additional support and resources,” said Westcster County Legislator Christopher Johnson. “homeless y” th in Yonkers are often a part of working families who simply cannot afford a place to live. Grants like these help homeless families by offsetting schooling costs, especially during COVID-19, where access to technology is no longer a luxury, but both critical and sparse.”

“his pas” “ar has shown the disparity between students who have remote learning capability and those who do not,” said City” of Yonkers City Council President Mike Khader. “the $150″ 00 will help to close the disparaging gap of education equity in the Yonkers Public Schools system. As a school parent, I understand the importance of quality education and ensuring that all our students receive every resource to succeed. I thank Attorney General James for her support, and look forward to working with the rest of my colleagues to support Yonkers Public Schools students.”

“”t is “r” t that our New York attorney general thought of YYonkers’YYonkers’mostle students, especially those who are homeless, in this settlement with Microsoft,” said C” y of Yonkers Majority Leader Corazon Pineda-Isaac. ” $1″,000 coming from Microsoft to help with the remote learning needs of homeless students in Yonkers is a massive win for our city, home to Westchester’s highest homeless population. Comust continues looking for creative solutions to fill the gaps where we can.”

“s e” you” tion chair for the City of Yonkers, I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Attorney General Letitia James for advocating and securing the overpayment in taxes by Microsoft, and allocating these funds to be distributed amongst the homeless population of students that attend Yonkers Public Schools,” said”ity of Yonkers City Council Member Tasha Diaz. “he “covery of this tax overpayment will ensure that they will get an electronic device.”

“those whose families were displaced, by no fault of their own, suffer emotional stress that is extremely difficult to understand,” said” Dr Edwin M. Quezada, Superintendent of Yonkers Public Schools. “These children need stability and a sense of belonging more than ever. A cchicchild’sschoolthat connection, and Yonkers Public Schools teachers, administrators, and support staff diligently work on maintaining these ties for our current, over 400 displaced students. This is why the grant provided by Attorney General James is needed in Yonkers and, more importantly, appreciated. These funds will exponentially strengthen our work, keeping children engaged in their education. Access to devices and stable connectivity are critical for maintaining their bonds to a more normal life. Thank you on behalf of Yonkers children.”

“”” ” applaud Attorney General James for her innovative disbursement of these overcharges to serve the children in our city,” said Rev. Steve Lopez, president of Yonkers Board of Education. “Additional funding will support the school district’s ongoing service to provide devices and connectivity to our needy families.”

M”Crosoft was fully cooperative with Attorney General JJames’s investigation.

Assistant Attorney General In-Charge of the Westchester Regional Office, Gary Brown, handled this matter. The Westchester Regional Office is a part of the Division for Regional Affairs, which Deputy Attorney General for Regional Affairs Jill Faber leads. First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy oversees the Division for Regional Affairs.

Source: Press Release
March 19, 2021
Attorney GGeGGeneral’sPressfice/212-416-8060
nyag.pressoffice@ag.ny.gov

The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) today announced new initiatives to strengthen the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in India by empowering school students with cloud computing skills and enabling entrepreneurs to build innovative education technology (EdTech) solutions on the cloud.

A Statement of Intent (SoI) was signed between NITI Aayog and Amazon Internet Services Private Limited (AISPL), undertaking the resale and marketing AWS Cloud services in India.

As per the SoI, AIM will leverage AWS Educate, Amazon’s global program that provides resources for students and educators to accelerate cloud-related learning. This program will introduce the fundamentals of cloud computing, such as cloud storage, virtual compute power, web hosting, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and virtual reality (VR), to students at more than 7000 Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) in India. AWS will also conduct Faculty Development Programs (FDPs) for the personnel in charge at the ATLs and provide resources and tools at each ATL to expedite student learning and enable them to create and build solutions on the cloud.

AIM will also adopt AWS EdStart, a virtual startup accelerator program that enables EdTech startups to develop innovative teaching and learning solutions on AWS.EdTech startup entrepreneurs and founders in more than 80 Atal Incubation Centers (AICs) and Atal Community Innovation Centers (ACICs) will be able to apply for AWS EdStart program benefits, such as AWS Promotional Credits, mentorship, and technical training, to help speed their growth.

Mission Director –Atal Innovation Mission, R. Ramanan, said the collaboration with AWS will equip the country’s talented youth with digital and web-based tools to enhance their creative and innovative capabilities, helping the nation grow manifold in its innovation and entrepreneurship network. “The education and tools will establish a strong foundation in cloud computing for students of ATLs across India, while the support of AWS EdStart for startups from AICs and ACICs will accelerate their productization and potential commercialization,” he said.

President, Public Sector – AISPL, AWS India and South Asia, Rahul Sharma asserted that India will need nine times as many digital skilled workers by 2025, according to the report Unlocking APAC’s Digital Potential: Changing Digital Skill Needs and Policy Approaches, prepared by strategy and economics consulting firm AlphaBeta, and commissioned by AWS. “AWS is committed to bridging the digital skills gap in cloud computing, and empowering entrepreneurs to build innovative products and services on the cloud. We are focused on helping customers deliver transformational change and experiential learning at scale. It is a privilege to team up with Atal Innovation Mission to foster ideation, curiosity, and innovation among India’s students and youth,” he added.

Other areas of collaboration between AIM and AWS include joint workshops, tech marathons, and national challenges to develop solutions on the cloud while solving local community problems or sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Source: Press Release
Release ID: 1705802
PIB Delhi
NITI Aayog
Date: March 18, 2021

March 04, 2021, In Bipartisan Letter, Senators Call on Administration to Learn from Pandemic and Establish Consistent, 21st Century Definition of High-Speed Broadband

Washington D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Angus King (I-Maine), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) wrote to the Biden Administration urging it to update federal standards for high-speed broadband to reflect modern uses and align those standards across the government.

In a letter to the Biden Administration’s top officials for federal broadband policy — including Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Acting Chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Jessica Rosenworcel, and Director of the National Economic Council Brian Deese — the senators called on federal agencies to update broadband program speed requirements to reflect existing and anticipated uses, from two-way video conferencing to intelligent grids to artificial intelligence. The senators also urged the officials to work together to align the definition of what constitutes high-speed broadband across federal agencies to replace the patchwork of standards that exist today.

In the letter, the senators called on the administration to invest limited federal broadband dollars in faster, more reliable networks that support modern and future uses. Specifically, they urged the administration to set a goal of supporting networks wherever practicable and cost-effective that provide, at a minimum, symmetrical speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps) such that all members of a typical family can be online simultaneously without issue.

“In the years ahead, emerging technologies such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, health IoT, smart grid, 5G, virtual and augmented reality, and tactile telemedicine, will all require broadband networks capable of delivering much faster speeds, lower latency, and higher reliability than those now codified by various federal agencies,” wrote Bennet and the senators. “We must learn from our experience during the pandemic and raise federal standards for new broadband service to require low latency, high reliability, and speeds that meet our expected 21st century needs. We should also insist that new networks supported with federal funds meet this higher standard, with limited exceptions for truly hard-to-reach locations.”

Bennet and his colleagues continued: “For years, we have seen billions in taxpayer dollars subsidize network deployments that are outdated as soon as they are complete, lacking in capacity and failing to replace inadequate broadband infrastructure. We need a new approach. We urge you to work together to establish one consistent, modern baseline definition of high-speed broadband service and underlying infrastructure specifications across the federal government and a coordinated approach to deploy funding efficiently where it is most needed.”

Shirley Bloomfield, CEO, NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association: “NTCA members are local providers delivering high-quality broadband that enable their rural communities to enjoy the critical advantages of broadband-enabled economic opportunities, education, health care, and other vital services. The demands placed upon broadband networks by the pandemic demonstrate that ‘just good enough’ speeds and latency are not good enough and will fall even further short of consumers’ needs in the near future. Our nation’s federal broadband programs should aim higher and do better to drive investment that will provide the level of symmetrical speed and performance customers will need in the near future and for decades to come. On behalf of NTCA’s members, I thank Senators Bennet, King, Portman, and Manchin for their letter highlighting the importance of aligning federal broadband program speed definitions and updating speed requirements to reflect modern broadband demands.”

Bennet has helped lead the effort to bridge America’s digital divide. During the pandemic, he has consistently called for more funding and flexibility for the FCC’s E-Rate program to connect low-income students online. He called on the country’s top internet companies to keep families connected and waive data caps for the duration of the pandemic. Last June, Bennet and Senator King introduced the BRIDGE Act to deploy affordable, high-speed broadband to unserved communities nationwide. Bennet also co-sponsored the Emergency Broadband Connections Act, which passed as part of the 2020 end-of-year relief bill and will now provide $3.2 billion to help economically distressed Americans afford broadband connections.

The text of the letter is available HERE and below.

Dear Secretary Vilsack, Secretary Raimondo, Commissioner Rosenworcel, and Director Deese:
We welcome the Biden Administration’s commitment to deploying affordable, high-speed broadband nationwide to help bridge America’s digital divide and remedy persistent digital inequities. As you pursue this critical goal, we strongly urge you to update federal broadband program speed requirements to reflect current and anticipated 21st-century uses and align the definition of high-speed broadband service across federal agencies.

In the future, we should make every effort to spend limited federal dollars on broadband networks capable of providing sufficient download and upload speeds and quality, including low latency, high reliability, and low network jitter, for modern and emerging uses, like two-way videoconferencing, telehealth, remote learning, health IoT, and innovative grid applications. Our goal for new deployment should be symmetrical speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps), allowing for limited variation when dictated by geography, topography, or unreasonable cost. While we recognize that in truly hard-to-reach areas, we need to be flexible to reach unserved Americans, we should strive to ensure that all members of a typical family can use these applications simultaneously. There is no reason federal funding to rural areas should not support the type of speeds used by households in distinct, well-served urban and suburban areas (e.g., according to speedtest.net’s January 2021 analysis, average service is currently 180 Mbps download / 65 Mbps upload with 24 milli-sec latency).

Broadband is increasingly critical to every aspect of our society and economy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans have relied on high-speed broadband more than ever. It has allowed millions of Americans to continue working to support themselves and their families. Broadband has helped millions of students maintain their education and provided patients access to vital care through telemedicine services. It has also given family and friends a way to connect in this challenging time while supporting social distancing. These crucial economic, social, and healthcare-related functions are only possible with access to adequate broadband, the demands for which only continue to increase. According to the International Data Corporation, data needs are expected to grow by at least 25% per year over the next five years. The universal service goal requires all Americans to have affordable broadband with the technical capacity to meet those needs equitably.

The pandemic has reinforced the importance of high-speed broadband and underscored the cost of the persistent digital divide in our country. According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), roughly 14.5 million Americans still lack broadband access, and other studies estimate this number could be as high as 162 million. Unfortunately, the FCC data continually overestimates broadband connectivity due to outdated mapping and poor data collection methods. We now have multiple definitions across federal agencies for what constitutes an area served with broadband, resulting in a patchwork without one consistent standard for broadband. For example, the FCC defines high-speed broadband as download speeds of up to 25 megabits per second and upload speeds of up to 3 megabits per second (25/3 Mbps). Alternatively, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines it as just 10/1 Mbps. While updating standards for updating is essential, we also recognize that Americans lack access to even minimal service. If we do not prioritize unserved Americans before upgrading to higher speeds, we will increase the digital divide further.

Ask any senior who connects with their physician via telemedicine, any farmer hoping to unlock the benefits of precision agriculture, any student who receives live-streamed instruction, or any family where both parents telework and multiple children are remote learning. They will tell you that many networks fail to come close to “high-speed” in 2021. For any of these functions, upload speeds far more significant than 3 Mbps are particularly critical. These challenges will not end with the pandemic. In the years ahead, emerging technologies such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, health IoT, smart grid, 5G, virtual and augmented reality, and tactile telemedicine will all require broadband networks capable of delivering much faster speeds, lower latency, and higher reliability than those now codified by various federal agencies.

We must learn from our experience during the pandemic and raise federal standards for new broadband services to require low latency, high reliability, and speeds that meet our expected 21st-century needs. We should also insist that new networks supported with federal funds meet this higher standard, with limited exceptions for truly hard-to-reach locations. For years, we have seen billions of taxpayer dollars subsidize network deployments that are outdated as soon as they are complete, lacking in capacity, and failing to replace inadequate broadband infrastructure.

We need a new approach. We urge you to work together to establish one consistent, modern baseline definition of high-speed broadband service and underlying infrastructure specifications across the federal government and a coordinated approach to deploy funding efficiently where it is most needed. This would also reduce redundancy and make it easier for the state, local, and private partners applying for support while complementing provisions at the end-of-year COVID-19 relief bill directing the National Telecommunications Information Agency to work with federal agencies to streamline existing broadband programs.

The United States has long taken pride in its position at the vanguard of technological innovation and global competitiveness. Suppose we want to maintain that leadership in the 21st century and ensure every American has access to economic opportunity regardless of where they live. In that case, we need to ensure that federal standards and strategies for essential technology services like broadband reflect our actual needs today and future demands for connectivity.
Sincerely,

Source: Press Release
Date: March 04, 2021
bennet.senate.gov