Americans urged to beware of scammers as 2nd round of stimulus checks get sent out

BOSTON (WHDH) - Americans are being urged to beware of scammers as the federal government continues to send out its second round of stimulus checks.

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The Better Business Bureau says it has already been receiving reports of con artists claiming that Americans need to either pay for their stimulus check or provide personal information to receive it.

People contacted through text message, email, and via phone calls about the new COVID-19 stimulus checks, which started getting sent out last week, according to the BBB Scam Tracker.

A common scam has been arriving by email or text and it instructs people to click a link to “request benefit payments,” the BBB said. The link will take people to an application, which prompts them to enter information in order to “make sure you are getting all the payments owed to you.”

The BBB warned that the particular scam has a high risk for identity theft.

There is also a phone variation of the scam in which the caller pretends to be from a government agency and asks for a payment in exchange for the confirmation of personal information.

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The BBB offered the following tips on spotting scams:

• Stay calm. If you receive any of these impostor calls, resisting the urge to act immediately, no matter how dramatic the story is. Scammers try to get you to act before you have a chance to think.
• Don’t reply directly. Don’t respond to the call, text, or email. If you think the message may be real, find the government agencies’ contact information on their website and contact them directly.
• Check for look-alikes. Be sure to do your research and see if a government agency or organization actually exists. Scammers often make up names of agencies and/or grants.
• Do not pay any money for a “free” government grant or program. If you have to pay money to claim a “free” government grant, it is not really free. A real government agency will not ask you to pay an advanced processing fee. The only official list of all U.S. federal grant-making agencies is Grants.gov.

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