(Washington D.C., Wednesday, June 3, 2020) – AARP is warning Americans not to accidentally throw away their stimulus payment.

The IRS has sent four million payments by prepaid debit cards, or Economic Impact Payment (EIP) cards, as the Treasury Department has dubbed them. The cards are going out to eligible taxpayers who filed tax returns but for whom the IRS doesn’t have bank account information. The stimulus payment is loaded on the debit card.

People are rightly suspicious of unsolicited cards through the mail, and the Economic Impact Payment (EIP) cards arrive in plain envelopes with the return address “Money Network Cardholder Services” from MetaBank in Omaha, Nebraska. Since that doesn’t sound like a government payment, some people have shredded them or thrown them away.

Naturally, wherever there is money involved, there are usually scammers trying to take it.

Kathy Stokes breaks down:

  • What the debit card and envelope look like and why you might receive them;
  • How to activate the cards;
  • What to do if you threw the card away;
  • How to avoid scams related to the debit cards and the COVID-19 pandemic

AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan social mission organization that helps people ages 50 and over live their best possible lives. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to either political campaigns or candidates. It has staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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