This is an anxiety inducing time and worry about money is no small thing right now. The Stimulus Payments that are now being distributed are one thing that may tamp down some of that anxiety. But don’t let anticipation make you fall for a scam.

4 tips for avoiding a Coronavirus stimulus payment scam

1. Only use irs.gov/coronavirus to submit information to the IRS – and never in response to a call, text, or email.
2. The IRS won’t contact you by phone, email, text message, or social media with information about your stimulus payment, or to ask you for your Social Security number, bank account, or government benefits debit card account number. Anyone who does is a scammer phishing for your information.
3. You don’t have to pay to get your stimulus money.
4. The IRS won’t tell you to deposit your stimulus check then send them money back because they paid you more than they owed you. That’s a fake check scam.