COLORADO SPRINGS — Using pandemic related schemes fraudsters have managed to steal almost $500 million from hundreds of thousands of Americans who say they fell for it. News5 takes a deep dive into the latest Covid relief scam and it’s one parents should know about.
Since the start of the pandemic people have lost on average $366 to fraudsters peddling Covid-related scams. When stimulus checks and PPP loans rolled out scammers took individuals and businesses for millions of dollars. Now they’re setting their sights on those child tax credit payments.
“The American Rescue Act of 2021 included that temporary enhancement for the child tax credit which was intended to help millions of families struggling to recover from the pandemic. And this has just really been a heyday for criminals,” said IRS Criminal Investigator Lauren Kocinski.
The reason fraudsters are aggressively zeroing in on parents right now is because the IRS is sending $15 Billion to 35 million families between now and December. They want to get their hands on some of that money, or at least some sensitive information.
“Anyone that says there’s an urgent matter or they’re threatening you or aggressive calls, all of that, scams,” said Kocinski.
If you’re eligible for child tax credit payments investigators say you should know some key points. You do not have to take action to get those payments. Also, government officials will not contact you. That means so no emails, calls, or text…
