Oklahoma Bankers Association We make bankers better!
As mentioned in the July 22 Weekly Update, Commercial New Account Fraud Rears Up in Oklahoma, watch for checks from the Inflation Reduction Act’s Discrimination Financial Assistance Program to be stolen from the mail system and deposited into new accounts opened for the purpose of committing fraud.
The application period for the Inflation Reduction Act’s Discrimination Financial Assistance Program ended in January 2024. This program provides financial assistance to farmers, ranchers and forest landowners who experienced discrimination prior to January 2021. Payments via U.S. Treasury checks were recently distributed for approved applications and mailed through the U.S. mail. Oklahoma had 2,926 award recipients who have or had a farming or ranching operation (receiving between $10,000 and $500,000 of assistance, with an average of nearly $82,000), or who planned to have a farming or ranching operation, but reported they were unable to do so because they couldn’t get a USDA loan (receiving between $3,500 and $6,000 of assistance, with an average of $5000).
Using the Treasury Check Verification system will NOT work in this scheme and all security features will be present. If the check is payable to an individual outside the state of Oklahoma who is opening a new account, attempt to independently locate a contact number for the printed payee to verify they are indeed in the state opening a new account.
Drop Sharon Lewis a line at the OBA if you have any questions about the scam!