Scammers take to social media to trick you into handing over your third stimulus payment

The third round of stimulus payments are hitting bank accounts, but not all at the same time which is creating an opportunity for scammers.

Scammers are trolling through social media looking for posts that specifically talk about the latest round of stimulus payments. Scammers will then make a comment on those posts that includes a link to the IRS.gov Get My Payment website--or at least that's what the link appears to be.

In reality, the links direct you to the scammers' copycat website where they ask you to put in personal information so they can steal your money and identity. Many of these fake sites make it look like they're affiliated with legit companies, but they're not.

The Troubleshooter Takeaways to remember when checking on your stimulus payment only use the actual IRS Get My Payment Status website which ends in .gov.

The IRS will not call text, email, or message you on social media in order for you to get payment. Also do not pay any money to get this stimulus payment, it will arrive by direct deposit, in the mail by a check or debit card.

While we are talking about the third round of stimulus money, if you didn't get your first or second, you will have to file for a Recovery Rebate Credit, which you must file via a 2020 tax return even if you're not required to file.