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Many of us are paying close attention to the guidance from federal, state, and local governments during this COVID-19 health emergency. Unfortunately, scammers are also paying attention. Some are even pretending to be affiliated with the government – just to scam you out of money.

 

Here are three ways you can help protect yourself and others from these scammers: 

  • Know that the government will never call, text, or contact you on social media saying you owe money, or to offer help getting your Economic Impact Payment (EIP) faster. If you get a message from someone claiming to be from a government agency through social media, it’s a scam. Report it to the FTC at ftc.gov/complaint. If you are eligible and haven’t yet gotten your Economic Impact Payment, visit irs.gov and follow the guidance. Watch this CFPB video to learn more about your EIP. And read the FTC’s information on spotting scams related to the EIP.
  • Visit government websites directly for trustworthy information. Don’t click on links in an email or text message. Scammers often send fake links to websites that look like they’re from the government. Instead of clicking on links in messages, open up a new window and search for the name of the government agency. And visit coronavirus.gov for the most up-to-date information on the pandemic.
  • Say NO to anyone claiming to be from a government agency asking for cash, gift cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency, or personal and financial information, whether they contact you by phone, texts, email, or by showing up in person. Don’t share your Social Security, Medicare ID, driver’s license, bank account, or credit card numbers.

For the most up-to-date information on avoiding COVID-19 related scams, visit ftc.gov/coronavirus/scams. And, for further help in protecting yourself financially during this pandemic, visit consumerfinance.gov/coronavirus.

 

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The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.

  • We won’t post off-topic comments, repeated identical comments, or comments that include sales pitches or promotions.
  • We won’t post comments that include vulgar messages, personal attacks by name, or offensive terms that target specific people or groups.
  • We won’t post threats, defamatory statements, or suggestions or encouragement of illegal activity.
  • We won’t post comments that include personal information, like Social Security numbers, account numbers, home addresses, and email addresses. To file a detailed report about a scam, go to ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

We don't edit comments to remove objectionable content, so please ensure that your comment contains none of the above. The comments posted on this blog become part of the public domain. To protect your privacy and the privacy of other people, please do not include personal information. Opinions in comments that appear in this blog belong to the individuals who expressed them. They do not belong to or represent views of the Federal Trade Commission.

Rascalsmom55
June 01, 2020
I received a text on Saturday, May 29th purporting to be from the Census Bureau wanting me to take a survey on coronavirus. I did not open it. I am sure that it was bogus.
Dwaraka
June 01, 2020
Unfortunately, this is the advice from a helpless parent to a child. The US governmental agencies that invented the Internet are unable to control the scammers. CIA, FBI, NSA, FCC, and other agencies should be able to think, take measures, and stop the scammers (big and small). They should have a policy such that no message (audio, video, text, graphic) can get on the net without the senders true identity is knowable to the law enforcement agencies via the initial (phone, computer, Intranet, Internet) network that begins the message.
b3l1as1Gn0ra
June 01, 2020
I work in bank fraud. I spoke to a customer last week who received a letter in the mail with a plastic "debit card" attached, stating "in lieu of a check or bank draft, you've received this "CARES Act Economic Stimulus Payment Card." It instructed him to visit a website (shown on the letter )and link his bank account to this card. I had never heard of something like this being done, but fraudsters are getting very creative nowadays because they want our money!!
FTC Staff
June 02, 2020

In reply to by b3l1as1Gn0ra

That is legitimate, it's not a scam.The debit card gives access to the person's stimulus payment, or Economic Impact Payment. 

If you get an envelope from “Money Network Cardholder Service,” look inside for a VISA-branded prepaid card issued by MetaBank. This card will give you access to your economic impact payment.  Read more in this FTC blog.

Garush
June 05, 2020
This is like dressing up and posing as a police officer. Isn't this a crime?
Brian
August 10, 2020
+15138575857 this number called me say I'm gonna have warrant for my arresr