{"id":2067,"date":"2026-01-08T12:07:28","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T17:07:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/?p=2067"},"modified":"2026-01-08T12:44:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T17:44:16","slug":"vermont-government-imposters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/vermont-government-imposters\/","title":{"rendered":"Vermont Government Imposters\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Government imposter&nbsp;scams&nbsp;were among the top&nbsp;scams&nbsp;reported&nbsp;to the Consumer Assistance Program&nbsp;by Vermonters in 2025. These&nbsp;scams&nbsp;take many forms, with fraudsters posing as&nbsp;federal or state&nbsp;agency.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vermonters&nbsp;have&nbsp;reported many DMV imposter&nbsp;scams&nbsp;threatening&nbsp;license revocation due to outstanding driving violations. Similarly, a&nbsp;wave&nbsp;of&nbsp;Economic Services imposters&nbsp;last fall prompted a statewide&nbsp;scam&nbsp;alert.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"940\" height=\"788\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/files\/2026\/01\/VT-Scam-Alert.png\" alt=\"SCAM ALERT: 3SquaresVT and EBT Card Phishing. Scammers are phishing for personal info of 3SquaresVT recipients, threatening suspension of EBT cards. Do not engage!\" class=\"wp-image-2073\" style=\"width:316px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/files\/2026\/01\/VT-Scam-Alert.png 940w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/files\/2026\/01\/VT-Scam-Alert-300x251.png 300w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/files\/2026\/01\/VT-Scam-Alert-768x644.png 768w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/files\/2026\/01\/VT-Scam-Alert-358x300.png 358w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 940px) 100vw, 940px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>In the new year, scammers are\u00a0again\u00a0targeting recipients of\u00a0<strong>3SquaresVT<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 also known as SNAP or food stamps. The imposters\u00a0attempt\u00a0to phish for\u00a0personal information, including EBT card numbers,\u00a0and\u00a0threaten benefit suspension if the information is\u00a0not provided.\u00a0In some instances, spoofed caller IDs\u00a0appear as \u201cAHS,\u201d when it is not. The Vermont Attorney General just issued another scam alert.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/files\/2026\/01\/3SquaresAlert01.08.2026.wav\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Scammers impersonate government\u00a0agencies\u00a0because it creates a sense of authority and\u00a0urgency. They hope to induce fear and panic, driving people to act quickly to resolve a\u00a0pressing\u00a0problem. Once they have your personal information, scammers use it for their own financial gain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Keys to avoiding government imposter scams:\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Know that government officials will\u00a0<strong>not\u00a0<\/strong>threaten benefits suspension in exchange for personal information.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Your license\u00a0will\u00a0<strong>not\u00a0<\/strong>be taken away because\u00a0of a threatening unsolicited phone call, text, or email.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>When it comes to\u00a0government\u00a0imposters, it is best to <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/slam-the-scam-hang-up-on-government-imposters\/\">hang up<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If a call or message seems legitimate, take\u00a0steps to verify by\u00a0contacting the\u00a0government agency\u00a0directly\u00a0using official contact information.\u00a0Vermont\u00a0agencies can be found using the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vermont.gov\/#gsc.tab=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Vermont.gov<\/a>\u00a0website. Always check that\u00a0government website addresses end in \u201c.gov\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For this&nbsp;recurring&nbsp;3SquaresVT&nbsp;scam, do not respond and&nbsp;<strong>never&nbsp;share&nbsp;your EBT card number&nbsp;<\/strong>with&nbsp;an&nbsp;unknown caller. Economic Services will only contact you about SNAP benefits using the following numbers:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>For text messages: 800-215-3243<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>For phone calls: 800-933-3405<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>When you encounter government imposters, hang up and report the scam to the Consumer Assistance program online or call 1-800-649-2424.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Government imposter&nbsp;scams&nbsp;were among the top&nbsp;scams&nbsp;reported&nbsp;to the Consumer Assistance Program&nbsp;by Vermonters in 2025. These&nbsp;scams&nbsp;take many forms, with fraudsters posing as&nbsp;federal or state&nbsp;agency.&nbsp;&nbsp; Vermonters&nbsp;have&nbsp;reported many DMV imposter&nbsp;scams&nbsp;threatening&nbsp;license revocation due to outstanding driving violations. Similarly, a&nbsp;wave&nbsp;of&nbsp;Economic Services imposters&nbsp;last fall prompted a statewide&nbsp;scam&nbsp;alert.&nbsp;&nbsp; In &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/vermont-government-imposters\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4480,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[704915,705094,481474,705095,705089,704813,482450],"class_list":["post-2067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-stopscamsvt","tag-3squaresvt","tag-consumer","tag-dmv-scam","tag-ebt-card-scam","tag-government-imposters","tag-scams"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4480"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2067"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2067\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2074,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2067\/revisions\/2074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}