It should come as no surprise that with all the stories in the news about stimulus funding, con artists have invented stimulus scams. The scam begins with an email, online ad or website that says you’re eligible to obtain an economic stimulus payment. All you have to do is send back a completed form or submit one online. The message might look like it was sent from a rebate company or the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”). The scam artists may ask you to send a processing fee to supposedly get a much larger check in return. Others ask for your bank account number so they can deposit your check. The scam artists then clean out your account or open new ones using your identifying information. Some stimulus scams even encourage you to click on a link or open attached forms that in turn install harmful software, like spyware, on your computer resulting in your personal information ending up in the hands of an identity thief.
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) cautions that the promise of stimulus money in return for a fee or financial information is always a scam, and advises consumers to ignore or delete messages offering you money from the stimulus program in exchange for personal information.
If you are a victim of a stimulus scam, contact us to discuss your legal options.