Looking for a COVID-19 Stimulus Checks? Avoid a Coronavirus Stimulus Check Scam

This post will be updated as more information becomes available

UPDATE: 6/15/2020- According to the Wall Street Journal, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the administration is “very seriously considering” a second round of stimulus checks. The proposed $3 trillion Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions, or HEROES Act, was passed by the U.S. Senate but has not been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. It would authorize another round of stimulus payments for most U.S. households. For more information on what the HEROES Act would provide, click here.

UPDATE: 4/29/2020- Anyone who did not file a tax return for 2018 or 2019 and have dependent children must register with the IRS by Tuesday, May 5, at noon EST to get an additional $500 economic impact payment for their dependents. If anyone misses the deadline, they will have to wait until they file their 2020 tax return to get the money. For more information on how to fill out a non-filer form, and how to avoid a non-filer scam, click here.

UPDATE: 4/15/2020 – Stimulus check have begun being distributed and people are already seeing them show up in their bank accounts. The IRS has created a portal where people can check the status of their economic impact payment. It could take a few minutes to load the website due to overload. However, people will be able to see what day they are expected to receive their payment, as well as the payment method.

Non-filers can now also file through the IRS to get their payment sooner. To learn how to file, and how to avoid a non-filer scam click here.

UPDATE 4/13/2020 – The Treasury Department and the IRS have announced that the distribution of stimulus checks will begin this week and that most of them will be deposited directly, requiring no action. Anyone who does not typically file a tax return will need to file a simple tax return to receive their stimulus check.

If there is anyone who has not filed their 2019 tax return but did file a 2018 return, the IRS will use the information provided in the 2018 return. The Treasury also plans on creating a web-based portal where people can enter their direct-deposit information online. The stimulus checks will be available to consumers through the end of 2020. For more information, consumers can visit IRS.gov/coronavirus. To learn more about the stimulus checks, click here. For tax rules to help you fill out your 2019 taxes, click here.

ORIGINAL 3/27/2020- With the COVID-19 pandemic impacting everyone across the United States, the U.S. federal government passed the largest stimulus package ever to help minimize the financial impacts for businesses and consumers. Coronavirus stimulus checks are being mentioned in the news daily, which is leading fraudsters to come up with stimulus check scams.

While there are a lot of questions about the $2 trillion stimulus package and stimulus check payments, most consumers should not have to take any action to receive their stimulus check because the payment will be directly deposited by the IRS into their bank account from the information provided on their 2018 or 2019 tax return. Payments will begin arriving in mid-April.

If anyone receives any messages or letters regarding a government check, it is very likely a coronavirus stimulus check scam. The government will not ask anyone for their Social Security number, bank account number or credit card number; the government will also not ask anyone to pay a fee upfront to get their government check; there will not be a way to “expedite payment” through a service provider either.

If anyone did not provide their bank account information on their last tax return, the IRS will mail people their stimulus checks. There have also been discussions about the possibility of sending some payments to consumers on prepaid debit cards to speed up the process. While that is a possibility, if someone reaches out saying that they can get the stimulus payment to you on a debit/credit card, please report it to local authorities or the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) to verify whether it is real or fake.

With the stimulus package passing, people can expect to see a rise in stimulus check scams. When the government ends up mailing checks and/or prepaid debit cards, people can also expect to see a rise in prepaid card scams and physical mail theft.

To avoid any of these scams, consumers should make sure they have filed their taxes and have provided their direct deposit information to the IRS in their latest tax return. Consumers should also check to see if they are qualified to receive a coronavirus stimulus check, and for how much.

Finally, if consumers receive anything that does not seem correct or something they are not expecting, they should ignore it and go directly to the source to verify its legitimacy. There is a possibility it could be a stimulus check scam.

If people have questions regarding stimulus check scams, they are encouraged to contact the Identity Theft Resource Center through the website to live chat with an expert advisor. For those that cannot access the website, they can call the toll-free hotline (888.400.5530) and leave a message for an advisor. While the advisors are working remotely, there may be a delay in responding but someone will assist you as quickly as possible.

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