Dutchess County Legislature Chair Yvette Valdés Smith Warns of Impersonation Attempts & AI Scams

Poughkeepsie, NY - The Dutchess County Legislature is alerting residents to three recent attempts to impersonate Chair Yvette Valdés Smith, as well as issuing a general reminder about AI scams.

The Legislature has been made aware of several scams involving Chair Valdés Smith: one involving an individual falsely claiming to be related to Valdés Smith for financial gain, another involving a smishing attack (a type of cybercrime that combines SMS text messages and phishing) sent in Valdés Smith’s name, and the most recent one involved an email impersonating the Chair sent to a county official.

Chair Yvette Valdés Smith said, “Scammers are getting bolder and more creative every day, and AI technology is making it easy to impersonate me or any other elected official or public figure, so please be alert. Always verify before taking action, especially if it involves sharing sensitive information or sending money.”

Recently, the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office (DCSO) warned of scammers posing as DCSO detectives, and the Town of Carmel’s Zoning Board of Appeals reported: “fake emails are being used to impersonate the town’s ZBA.”

Dutchess County Sheriff Kirk Imperati’s office offers the following general tips to help people avoid these scams. Be alert:

• If someone contacts you asking for money, for any reason ● If you receive correspondence instructing you to keep the exchange a secret
• For emails or text messages that are sent at odd hours or contain misspelled words, grammatical errors, or information that doesn’t make sense
• If you receive an email or text about an order you didn’t place, or asking you to call an unfamiliar phone number. (DO NOT follow the instructions in the email, click on any links in the email, or call the number provided in the email)
• If you are asked to purchase merchandise, transfer money, provide bank information, provide remote computer access, enter a code, or click on a link

If you are contacted by someone claiming to be Chair Valdés Smith or any other Dutchess County Legislator, please notify the Dutchess County Legislature at 845-486-2100.

If you think you may have been the victim of a scam, contact the Sheriff’s Office at 845-486-3800, 845-605-CLUE, or dcsotips@gmail.com.