Better Business Bureau warns of ‘Economic Impact Payment’ scam

Even as the Internal Revenue Service warns against scammers impersonating the agency (among other rampant frauds), the Better Business Bureau is joining in with a warning of a specific text circulating to trick taxpayers into sharing personal information, claiming they’re eligible for a four-figure stimulus check.

“You are eligible to receive a $1,400 Economic Impact Payment,” reads one text received recently. “Please provide your accurate personal information. We will deposit the amount into your bank account or mail a paper check within 1 or 2 business days.”

“(Please reply with a ‘Y,’ then exit the text message,” the scam message concludes. “Open it again, click the link, or copy it into your Safari browser and open it.)”

“The real IRS has announced that automatic payments will be issued to eligible taxpayers who didn’t claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2021 tax returns,” the BBB warns. “The message contains a fake link that mimics an official IRS website. Clicking it may lead to malware or a fraudulent form asking for personal or financial information.”

“The IRS does not contact taxpayers via text, email or social media, and they will never request information this way,” the BBB adds.

Investigation of the fake link showed what one recipient called a “homemade”-looking webpage with Cyrillic script in the upper right.