Scams are sure to follow new stimulus payments
This past Monday, Congress approved a new round of economic impact payments to most US citizens. The new round of payments will only be half as much as the initial payments at $600. Even though these payments will be less, they won’t stop scammers from trying to fleece you out of your payment. While we’re sure new scams will emerge with the next round of payments, scammers will continue to use the same scams they did before. So let’s review some of those scams.
This round of payments are supposed to be received quicker than the payments back in Spring. However, scammers might try to convince you that they can the payment to you quicker if you give them your financial information. In reality, no one person or agency can get you your payment to you faster.
The IRS will not reach out to you by text message, phone call, social media, or email about your stimulus payment. So if anyone contacts you out of the blue and says there is an issue with your payment, they are more than likely scammers. If you think there might be an issue with your payment, you can always check with the IRS’s Get My Payment website.
As previously mentioned, the stimulus checks will be no more than $600. If anyone is contacting you promising more money than that, they are scammers.
Be wary if you receive a paper check that is designed to look like a stimulus payment. Scammers will follow up with a phone call stating that they’ve overpaid you and will ask you to deposit the check and return the overage. These are fake checks and if you deposit one, you’ll be responsible for the amount to your bank.
Speaking of banks, your bank will not call you about your stimulus payment status. Once again, these are scammers trying to divert your payment to them.
In general, it’s best not to click on any links about your stimulus that you receive in any online communication and do not give your personal information over the phone.
Leave a Reply