This past Sunday, the President put his John Hancock on the $900 billion dollar Covid-19 relief bill.

$600 checks for those who qualify and direct deposit payments started going out Tuesday night. Talk about fast. Paper checks started getting mailed out on Wednesday.

The second round of stimulus payments are up to $600 per individual for those who earned less than $75,000 in 2019 or for married couples who filed taxes jointly and earned less than $150,000. For every $100 a person earns over those caps, the payment will be reduced by $5, and an individual making over $87,000 will not receive a stimulus payment. (Today)

Sadly that attempt to get those payments bumped up from $600 to $2000 was stopped on the Senate floor before it even got started and we really shouldn't be surprised. If nothing else, Mitch McConnell is consistent.

But this isn't about the amount of your check. It's about how you can make sure you get it and don't get scammed out of it.

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There are folks out there whose entire purpose in life is to take from others just to line their pockets. Greedy suckers.

First off, the IRS has a place for you to go so you can check on the status of your payment.

If you have any questions or concerns about your payment, someone contacting you about your check, or requesting information you should head HERE.

The first round of stimulus checks in April resulted in nearly $211.3 million being lost by Americans to fraud, according to the Federal Trade Commission. (Today)

Please be careful and use all the common sense you can muster. The scammers are going to be stepping their game up. With bogus phone calls, threatening emails, text messages and more.

The FTC also notes that the government will not call, text, email or contact you on social media to ask for personal information like your Social Security number, credit card information or bank account, so anyone asking is a scammer. Only use the IRS web page to submit information to the IRS. (Today)

Head here to read the full article from Today to see all the ways that you could get scammed out of your stimulus check.

And the IRS has a whole page dedicated to helping you avoid getting scammed out of your Covid relief funds.

Pay attention to your gut. If it says don't trust it, you probably shouldn't. And if you have questions and concerns, ask. And contact the IRS at their website. Don't follow or click on a link that's provided by a scammer through a text message or email. You could end up providing them with the information they need to take you stimulus payment and more.

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