Grassley Says Americans Need Warning About Stimulus Scams

Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley called on the IRS’s watchdog to do more to educate Americans about potential scams related to economic stimulus payments that will soon be sent out.

Grassley, in a Monday letter, urged the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration to make “every reasonable effort” to raise awareness of potential fraud schemes during the pandemic. He also requested that the IRS’s watchdog brief his committee on efforts to combat new coronavirus-related fraud.

• The Internal Revenue Service will soon begin sending out billions in tax rebates under the economic recovery law (Public Law 116-136) that passed in March.
• “I understand scammers are already contacting innocent Americans by impersonating IRS or Treasury Department officials, offering so-called COVID-19-related assistance that requires the sharing of personal financial information,” Grassley (R-Iowa) wrote in the letter. “These scammers then use that information to steal from their unsuspecting victims.”
• The IRS and several states have already issued public statements warning of potential fraudulent activity.
• Read more: Stimulus Checks May Create ‘Feeding Frenzy’ for Scammers (1)