Press release
On September 26, 2025, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul notified state residents
that eligible New York taxpayers would soon receive their inflation refund checks. The
announcement stated that qualified recipients will receive a paper check mailed to the address on
their tax refund and stressed that no New York State agency will initiate contact via
telephone, email, or text message regarding refund checks.
To date, a number of text messages have been observed claiming to come from the
“New York Department of Revenue (not a real agency), or the “New York State Division of
Tax & Finance” (legitimate agency). These messages are known as “Smishing Scams” (text-
message based phishing scams) and are maliciously attempting to scam individuals out of
sensitive personally identifiable information including names, dates of birth, social security
numbers, addresses, and banking information.
Any New York State resident who believes they are the target of this scam should refer to
the official “NYS Division of Tax & Finance” website (https://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/inflation-
refund-checks.htm) which has more information about the inflation refund checks. The website
also contains a link to report any alleged scam activity.