IRS sending letters to try to fix confusion over stimulus debit cards

People who haven’t received their federal stimulus payments yet should be on the lookout for letters being sent starting this week by the Internal Revenue Service telling them they may have accidentally tossed out a prepaid debit card.

The IRS sent stimulus payments via prepaid cards instead of paper checks to about 2 million taxpayers. People who were not expecting a prepaid card may have ignored it, thinking it was a scam.

The prepaid cards, from Money Network Financial, and the letters coming out about them are not scams, said Lauren Saunders, associate director at the National Consumer Law Center, which issued an alert Thursday. “If you have any doubts, or have not received your card, call 800-240-8100,” she said.

That number, contained in the letters, will have information only about people who are being paid through prepaid cards — not about payments made by paper check.

“If the letter gives a different number, people should not call it, as it likely is a scam,” Ms. Saunders said.

The letters are going to people who have not yet activated their prepaid cards — also referred to as economic impact payment cards.

The prepaid cards can be cashed or used in numerous ways without incurring fees, “including by transferring the funds to your bank account, using network ATMs, asking for cash back at a grocer or big box store, and by going inside to the teller window at virtually any bank or credit union,” Ms. Saunders said.