FTC warns of COVID-19 scam claiming to give funds for bank info
The FTC said fraudsters are investigating some people’s banking information.
Angela Lang / CNET
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission warned Tuesday of fraudsters pretending to be government officials seeking information about victims’ bank accounts. If people share this information, the fraudsters say in an email, they are receiving money from a COVID-19 “Global Empowerment Fund.”
The FTC says it is all a scam and there is no money or money. The agency encourages recipients of such messages not to respond and instead report them to the FTC at ftc.gov/complaint. The FTC says it will never contact anyone by phone, email, text, or social media to ask for financial information or your social security number.
“Anyone who does this is a scammer looking for your information,” the agency said in a press release.
People get one Economic bonus if the money is received from the Internal Revenue Service, the FTC determines.
Anyone who believes they have shared their financial information with a fraudster should go to IdentityTheft.gov for steps to protect themselves. You can also sign up for FTC consumer notifications to stay up to date on the latest fraud cases.
