Watch Out For Scams: 3 Big Ones

There are plenty of rumors about stimulus packages and taxes floating around these days — and many of them aren’t true. Instead, if you listen to them, you can find yourself a prime target for a scam. I’ve rounded up just a few of the scams which are making the rounds these days. Unfortunately, there are far more scams out there. The best defense you can have is to be aware of just what you’re doing with your money and read all the fine print.

1. The IRS is on the phone: There are a wide variety of scams that use the IRS’s name to get your personal information (like your Social Security number) over the phone or via email. While the exact reason the caller purportedly wants the information varies, scams like a claim that the IRS needs the information to send your tax refund or a stimulus check are common. Scammers use the information they collect through these phone calls and email to steal identities.
2. Landing government grants: The Better Business Bureau reported a scam this month that involves companies offering free advice on getting large government grants. The grants are claimed to be part of the stimulus package, although no such grants actually exist. The scammer typically offers to send a free CD to any requester, but those requesters are required to submit their credit or debit card number in order to receive it. Credit cards are then charged with reoccuring fees indefinitely — in many cases, the fees only stopped when the victim canceled his or her credit card. Many victims of the scam also report that they never received the CD. Some variations on the scam ask you to pay a small initial fee, around a dollar or so, in order to get your credit card account information.
3. Your stimulus check is in danger: Another scam connected with stimulus payments has been popping up in email accounts. You may receive an email from the IRS or other government agency, with a warning that you’re in danger of forfeiting your stimulus check if you do not respond immediately with your bank account information. The emails may ask for PINs, passwords and other secret access information — as well as taking you to fake websites where the same information can be stolen. That information is all a scammer needs to gain access to a bank account and empty it out. It can also be used in identity theft.

It seems like scammers come out in force when there are economic problems: the know that many people are desperate and they take advantage of that fact. To make matters worse, there are new scams (and variations on old ones) every day. Just because you’re familiar with the existing scams doesn’t mean that you can easily realized the next one out there. All you can do is investigate any situation that seems to good to be true, even if that means being suspicious of the emails and phone calls you receive.