Thieves targeting people waiting for stimulus check

PITTSBURGH — Many of us are logging a lot of hours online these days and cybercriminals are acutely aware.

Those criminals are trying to get your economic impact payment.

“And try to get you to verify information, so that they can try to convince you that they’re going to help you get your check or direct deposit quicker,” said Michael Montanez-Acting Special Agent in Charge of the IRS criminal investigations in the Philadelphia field office.

It doesn’t work that way though: The IRS is still in the process of sending payments.

If you filed taxes in 2018 or 2019 and provided direct deposit information, the IRS will directly deposit the money into your account.

Have questions about the spread of the coronavirus? We have an entire section dedicated to coverage of the outbreak. CLICK HERE for more.

If you don't file taxes, you can go HERE, give them some information and they'll send you a check.

“The IRS will never call you, will never text you, will never send you an email, will never reach out to you on social media,” Montanez said.

So if you get any of these things, Montanez said to ignore them. While he said they haven’t gotten any reports of anyone falling victim to a scam yet at their Philadelphia field office, he told Channel 11 that they’re keeping an eye on stimulus payment phishing scams.

“They put in links in there that contain malware, and when people click on them it will take them someplace else, and then what they’ll do is take that information and use it at a future date to file false tax returns in their name.” Montanez said.

The effect of a stimulus scam could impact you well into the future, so what can you do to protect yourself?

“We need to do a better job of not clicking on those emails, even if they look totally legit,” said Kierk Sanderlin, head of engineering for Check Point Software Technologies. “Please go out and Google the site you want to go to. Bookmark it in your browser, go to it that way. Don’t open your banking site from an email. Don’t open your health care provider’s site from an email.”

Montanez echoed that, adding that you shouldn’t even Google the IRS website. Just type it in yourself to make sure you’re going directly there.

You can only find out the status of your stimulus payment.

If you want to receive BREAKING ALERTS, please download our WPXI News App. You can also follow WPXI on Facebook and Twitter.

IRS making small changes to program where you can check for your stimulus money IRS making small changes to program where you can check for your stimulus money

© 2020 Cox Media Group