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New report warns of stimulus payment fraud
As the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service begin to disperse stimulus payments under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), an article from KrebsOnSecurity warns that the new website to help non-filers could make it easy for thieves to intercept some payments.
The agencies Friday launched a new web portal, the non-filer tool, to help those who don't normally file a tax return register for the stimulus payments.
In the article, Krebs reports that the possibility of payments being intercepted is "very real" due to the "relatively lax identification requirements" of the non-filer portal and high number of tax refund fraud in years past.
"In this case, fraudsters would simply need to identify the personal information for a pool of Americans who don’t normally file tax returns, which may well include a large number of people who are disabled, poor or simply do not have easy access to a computer or the Internet," writes Krebs. "Armed with this information, the scammers need only provide the target’s name, address, date of birth and Social Security number, and then supply their own bank account information to claim at least $1,200 in electronic payments."
Additionally, Krebs flags that the tool expected to be released this week to enable individuals to track the status of their payment could also potentially be used to redirect payments.
NAFCU will continue to engage with industry and government stakeholders to ensure that credit unions are operationally prepared to meet their members’ needs as stimulus payments are disbursed. The association is working proactively to ensure that credit unions can put stimulus payments into the pockets of their members as quickly and securely as possible.