Mutual One Bank Content

Source: Federal Trade Commission: Consumer Information

If you used the IRS’s non-filers tool before May 17 and claimed at least one qualifying child, the IRS mistakenly failed to send you $500 per qualifying child.

To correct this, the IRS is sending money to those people who were affected. (If you used the non-filers tool after May 17 and claimed at least one qualifying child, your stimulus payment did include $500 per qualifying child.)

You don’t need to do anything to get your money. The IRS began making direct deposits on August 5, 2020 and mailing checks and debit cards on August 7, 2020. You can check the status of your payment at irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment.

The IRS won’t contact you about your payment. If someone does, it could be scam. Get the FTC’s latest information about Coronavirus scams at ftc.gov/coronavirus/scams.

Source: Federal Trade Commission: Consumer Information

We’ve been telling you about the scams related to COVID-19. But now we can tell you even more about the scams happening in your neck of the woods. Just today, the FTC rel

eased state-specific data on COVID-19-related issues, which you can check out with just a few clicks of your mouse. With user-friendly feature

s, the FTC’s data dashboard lets you click on your state to see what people near you have been reporting. And see how people across the country are being affected, too.

Since January 1, people across the U.S. have made 91,808 COVID-19-related reports to the FTC. Most of these re

ports involve online shopping, with travel and vacations coming in second. The online shopping reports are mostly about people ordering products that never arrive, while most of the travel and vacation reports relate to refunds and cancellations. So far, people have reported losing $59.27 million on these and other COVID-related fraud reports.

So how have COVID-19-related consumer issues affected your state? Find out for yourself. Then tell your family, friends, and community what to look out for, and how to protect themselves. Also, be sure to visit ftc.gov/coronavirus/scams for alerts, infographics, videos, and more information about COVID-19 scams.

We’re excited to share our data with you — but it’s only as good as what we hear from you. If we don’t know about the issue, we can’t work to stop it. If you’ve experienced or heard about scams of any kind, please tell us at ftc.gov/complaint.

Many of us are paying close attention to the guidance from federal, state, and local governments during this COVID-19 health emergency. Unfortunately, scammers are also paying attention. Some are even pretending to be affiliated with the government – just to scam you out of money.

Here are three ways you can help protect yourself and others from these scammers:

• Know that the government will never call, text, or contact you on social media saying you owe money, or to offer help getting your Economic Impact Payment (EIP) faster. If you get a message from someone claiming to be from a government agency through social media, it’s a scam. Report it to the FTC at ftc.gov/complaint. If you are eligible and haven’t yet gotten your Economic Impact Payment, visit irs.gov and follow the guidance. And read the FTC’s information on spotting scams related to the EIP.
• Visit government websites directly for trustworthy information. Don’t click on links in an email or text message. Scammers often send fake links to websites that look like they’re from the government. Instead of clicking on links in messages, open up a new window and search for the name of the government agency. And visit coronavirus.gov for the most up-to-date information on the pandemic.
• Say NO to anyone claiming to be from a government agency asking for cash, gift cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency, or personal and financial information, whether they contact you by phone, texts, email, or by showing up in person. Don’t share your Social Security, Medicare ID, driver’s license, bank account, or credit card numbers.

For the most up-to-date information on avoiding COVID-19 related scams, visit ftc.gov/coronavirus/scams. And, for further help in protecting yourself financially during this pandemic, visit consumerfinance.gov/coronavirus.

At MutualOne Bank, we take safeguarding your financial information seriously. Unfortunately, fraudsters are always looking for ways to take advantage of the system.

The latest scheme involves fraudulent unemployment claims. Using private personal information belonging to identity theft victims, they apply for unemployment benefits in states across the country. The scammers recruit people to receive the funds as direct deposits to their personal accounts, with the agreement that they will then forward a major portion of the funds to the scammers.

Please keep in mind, unemployment benefits deposits should not be set up to be received in an account if the individual’s name is not on that account.

It’s time to turn your paranoia meter up to high. The bad guys are going to use every means possible to try to get your information and to get your money.

Here’s some tips to avoid common tricks

• Never use your own bank account to transfer money for anyone.
• Never open a new account to receive money for strangers.
• Never pay to collect a prize or move any money out of your “winnings.”
• Never send money to an online love interest, even if they send you a check first.

Here are some links for more information

• FTC: Coronavirus Advice for Consumers
• IRS issues warning about Coronavirus-related scams

Source: Federal Trade Commission: Consumer Information

You’ve probably heard the news by now – the government is sending out relief checks as part of the federal response to the Coronavirus. Scammers heard the same thing, and they’re hoping to cash in on yours.

The details of how this will all work are still coming together, but we do know a few things about how this will – and will not – work. For now, here are some things to know.

1. You don’t need to do anything. As long as you filed taxes for 2018 and/or 2019, the federal government likely has the information it needs to send you your money. Social Security recipients and railroad retirees who are otherwise not required to file a tax return also do not need to do anything to receive their money. If you otherwise have not filed taxes recently, you may need to submit a simple tax return to get your check. (More on who’s eligible here.)

2. Do not give anyone your personal information to “sign-up” for your relief check. There is nothing to sign up for. Anyone calling to ask for your personal information, like your Social Security number, PayPal account, or bank information is a scammer, plain and simple. Also be on the lookout for email phishing scams, where scammers pretend to be from the government and ask for your information as part of the “sign-up” process for the checks.

3. To set up direct deposit of your check, communicate only with the IRS at irs.gov/coronavirus. And you only need to do this if you didn’t give the IRS your bank information on your 2018 or 2019 return. In the coming weeks, the IRS will be setting up an online form available through irs.gov/coronavirus. But nowhere else, and never in response to an email, text, or call.

4. No one has early access to this money. Anyone that claims to is a scammer. The timeline for this process is not exact, but it looks like funds will start going out in the next few weeks. Scammers are using the lack of detail to try to trick people into giving their personal information and money.

To get official updates and more information, visit the IRS’s page on economic impact payments. And if you come across a scammer trying to take your check, we want to hear about it. Report it at ftc.gov/complaint.