As of August 5, 2020 the Federal Trade Commission has logged almost 154,000 consumer complaints related to COVID-19 and Economic Impact Payment scams. These claims have resulted in $98.37 million in consumer losses so far. Scammers closely follow news headlines and adapt their scheme to meet the times.
Here are a few of the current scams:
- Scammers are pretending to be contact tracers. A legitimate contact tracer will never ask for money, social security numbers, or personal financial information, or your immigration status.
- With the possibility of a new round of Economic Impact Payments (EIP’s), know that the IRS will not ask you to verify your social security number or bank account number You will never have to pay a fee to get your payment. These are all scams. Only use the https://irs.gov/coronavirus website to share information related to your EIP.
- Be leery of ads for COVID testing kits – most advertised kits are not approved by the FDA.
Kansas can report scams to the attorney generals Consumer Protection Division at www.InYourCornerKansas.org or call 1-800-432-2310. Reports can also be made to the Federal Trade Commission at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov
By: Brenda Langdon
