BBB Says Economic Impact Payments are Coming Via Prepaid Debit Cards

Abilene's Better Business Bureau is alerting and warning West Texans that the Economic Impact Payments (EIP aka: stimulus payments) are now being sent out in the form of prepaid debit cards. These are being sent to taxpayers that did not receive their stimulus payments through their bank accounts, earlier this year.

The reason for the alert is because many taxpayers are calling the BBB asking if the cards are real or not and many have been cutting the cards up and throwing them away thinking they're a scam. John Riggins, Director of Abilene BBB said that his office has been inundated with numerous calls about the prepaid debit cards.

Riggins says "it's best to log into the IRS website or to contact the IRS directly at 1-800-829-1040. However, consumers need to be vigilant to ensure that the card they receive is legitimate, and to be on the lookout for scams." As you'll see in the video above some are having trouble activating the cards.

Finally John advises that some scammers will try to text, call or even email you in order to try and get you to give them your debit card number. If that happens you'll need to report any scamming you may receive to the IRS and then you are urged file a report with BBB Scam Report online.