The Better Business Bureau Serving Western Michigan is issuing a warning to watch out for potential scammers trying to take advantage of those who may qualify for the child tax credit.
“We’re very concerned this is going to become a bigger problem”
Katie Grevious is the Communications Specialist for the BBB Serving Western Michigan. She says with the child tax credit payments now underway through the American Rescue Plan Act, scammers may try to take advantage.
The Better Business Bureau and Federal Trade Commission warn to watch for impostor scams, with con artists pretending to "help" you get your payments earlier, get more money, or commit identity theft. The IRS is a commonly impersonated entity in the United States.
“So, we’re really warning people to watch out for emails, texts and phone calls form scammers posing as the IRS, asking for personal info over the phone and to get the direct deposit or something like that.”
Grevious says while scammers may try to create confusion, there’s one thing you should know about the IRS.
“The IRS will never call you, they will never email you, the will never text you.”
Now, you can go to the IRS.GOV website to see if you qualify, how much you may receive and how to address any problems. But Grevious also warns that you should make sure you are heading to the correct website.
“Don’t open google and type in IRS child tax credit. Because scammers know you’re doing this and may create a fake links that pop up on google that you may click and then you enter your bank information in. So, make sure you type in IRS.gov and that is the safe place to enter your information.”
If you do get a request for your information Grevious says their biggest tip is that you do not give personal, sensitive information over the phone, email or text message.”
