QUESTION:
Verify: No, there is no free money from a COVID-19 Global Empowerment Fund.
ANSWER:
No.
SOURCE:
Federal Trade Commission
PROCESS:
The Federal Trade Commission says someone is emailing consumers pretending to be government official.
The agency says the scam email says there’s money available from the COVID-19 Global Empowerment Fund and all you have to do is reply with you bank information and they’ll transfer the funds.
The FTC there’s no money and there’s no fund.
And it’s not from the FTC.
If you get a message like this, don’t respond. Instead, report it to the real FTC at ftc.gov/complaint.
So we can Verify, false, this is a fake email about fake money from a fake COVID-19 fund.
The FTC will never contact you by phone, email, text message, or social media to ask for your financial information. (Or your Social Security number.) Anyone who does is a scammer, phishing for your information.
If you’re getting an economic stimulus payment, that money will come from the Internal Revenue Service.
If you think you gave your financial information to a scammer, go to IdentityTheft.gov for steps you can take to protect yourself.
To keep up with the latest scams, sign up for the FTC's consumer alerts.