4 stimulus check scams to watch for
GREEN BAY - Consumer protection advocates are urging people to be wary of COVID-19 scams that have cost Americans more than $340 million in the last 14 months.
More than 350,000 people have filed complaints with the Federal Trade Commission since Jan. 1, 2020, that mention the coronavirus, stimulus checks, N95 masks and other pandemic-related issues. More than half those complaints involve fraud and about 15% involve identity theft. The FTC estimated total losses at $343.1 million through Feb. 22.
In Wisconsin, residents have filed 4,275 reports with the FTC detailing $3.6 million in losses.
Lara Sutherlin, trade and consumer protection division administrator at the state Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection, warns residents to stay vigilant, know how to recognize scams and take action to protect themselves as Congress considers a third round of economic impact payments to individuals and families.
“(Scams are) going to be a constant issue for our society going forward,” Sutherlin said. “It’s certainly not going away. The harm that’s being done is significant.”
About 60% of fraud complainants filed in Wisconsin in the past year reported a financial loss. More than 2,800 reports have involved fraud and another 380 involved identity theft.
About 250 of Wisconsinites’ FTC complaints have specifically involved relief check scams, Sutherlin said.
Sutherlin said the agriculture department also is busy trying to educate consumers about scams regarding access to the COVID-19 vaccine, saying it’s a growing concern.
“They’re probably promising things that are too good to be true: They can get you on a list or get you a shot faster,” Sutherlin said. “It’s why this whole crisis is particularly problematic: There’s an influx of need, a lot of vulnerability. People are isolated and looking for information. A lot of scammers can take advantage of that vacuum of information, or misinformation, about the vaccine rollout.”
Sutherlin said anyone who thinks they’ve been scammed should do two things immediately: call local law enforcement to report the theft and then provide details to the agriculture department either via its complaints webpage or by calling 800-422-7128.
“We have an identity theft team that can help you,” Sutherlin said. “They’re good about walking a victim through the steps they need to take.”
Here are four of the most common scams and ways you can protect yourself. You can find more information via the agriculture department, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund and SocialCatfish.com.
Robocalls
Scammers posing as IRS officials have joined the ranks of those calling to warn you your car warranty is about to expire and other robocallers. The caller will tell you they need your personal financial information so they can deposit your relief check. In reality, they use that information to claim the check for themselves.
What to know: Don’t give out any personal information to such callers. If it’s an unsolicited call, the caller takes a threatening tone or they ask you to pay in gift cards, those are signs you’re talking to a scammer, Sutherlin said.
“Any time you’re being threatened by someone who purports to be from the government or a utility company, it’s a scam,” she said. “The IRS is too busy right now to call you out of the blue to help you out. The government will contact you by mail.”
Phishing messages
Impostors claiming to be government officials also send emails, text messages or instant messages via social media sites. They might offer an emergency grant, another stimulus check, a credit on a popular shopping site or help paying off medical bills, asking you to click on a link, which takes you to a phony website designed to take your personal information.
What to know: The government will never contact you via text, social media or email to confirm your personal information. Additionally, the terms “stimulus check” and “stimulus payment” should put you on high alert that it’s a fake; the official term is “economic impact payment.” Sutherlin said people should watch for grammar and spelling mistakes, in general.
Fake websites
Those phishing messages and fake emails will often take you to websites that may look like a bank or government page. Instead, the personal information you enter gets stolen. Other times, the website connected to such links will download a virus to your computer that can steal personal information stored on the device.
What to do: Again, look for spelling errors in the website address or elsewhere on the site: A suspicious site might replace an “o” with a 0, or you might notice that you don’t conduct business with Chasse Banck. SocialCatfish has several additional suggestions for identifying fake sites.
Phony checks, faster payments
Some scammers send their targets fake checks that look like governmentissued paper checks. Once you deposit the check, someone calls to ask for some of the money back before the check is rejected by the bank, claiming they sent too much. Other scams will promise to get your money to you faster if you pay a small fee, or send you a fake check for an odd amount with instructions to call a scammer for instructions on how to cash it.
What to do: Ask your bank to verify that the check is legitimate and notify your bank if anyone contacts you asking you to return some of the funds. Such offers to get your money faster for a fee also arise during income tax filing season when imposters offer to speed up your refund.
Sutherlin said anyone suspicious of an offer should check with a source they know and trust, be it a bank, the state agriculture department, the FTC or the appropriate government agency, before they do anything.
“The main thing in this time of confusion is to think about going to sources of information you trust,” Sutherlin said. “For economic impact payments, it’s IRS.gov.”