Customer Alerts: Frauds and Scams

At Fiscal Service, we’re concerned that our customers stay up to date about frauds and scams that impact their financial transactions. We’ll use this page to bring you the latest information about the frauds and how you can avoid them as well as other pertinent information.

Protect Yourself from COVID-19 Scams

• If you receive calls, e-mails, or other communications claiming to be from the Treasury Department and offering Economic Impact Payments in exchange for personal financial information, or an advance fee, or charge of any kind, including the purchase of gift cards, PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND. See general guidance on these scams.
• Follow new fraud alerts related to COVID-19 on the Federal Trade Commission site.
• Please contact the FBI at ic3.gov so that the scammers can be tracked and stopped
• Visit Coronavirus.gov for the latest official information from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Task Force at the White House.
• See the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) graphic about IRS-related Coronavirus scams and check the contact information below about reporting a scam to TIGTA.
• U.S. Secret Service Partners with the U.S. Department of the Treasury to launch a "Know Your U.S. Treasury Check Campaign"
• Watch out for fake e-mails claiming to be from Treasury Department or Fiscal Service and using COVID-19 information to spread malware. Notice the misspelled e-mail address in this example: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/fake-us-dept-of-treasury-emails-spreads-new-nodejs-malware/

Routing Transit Number Fraud

One of the common fraud schemes perpetrated over the last several years involves the use of unauthorized Routing Transit Numbers (RTNs) to make payments using fictitious accounts. RTNs are nine digit codes which appear on the bottom of negotiable instruments, such as checks, to identify the financial institution on which they are drawn.

Recently, promotion of this fraud on social media channels has encouraged individuals to pay their debts using an unauthorized RTN and the individual’s social security number. This scam is an attempt to get individuals to reveal their social security number. You should ignore this scam. Submitting payments with a fraudulent account or RTN is illegal.

Contact Information for the Department of the Treasury, Office of the Inspector General

If you become aware of frauds or scams, you can contact the Treasury’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) at any of the following:

You can also report COVID-19 related frauds and scams to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration whose website has an information page and link to a report form.  This page also allows you to sign up to receive alerts about Coronavirus-related scams.

Other Informational Sites about Frauds and Scams

You should also check these websites for more information about frauds and scams:

• Frauds, Phonies and Scams Involving Treasury securities
• Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Site about Tax Scams and Consumer Alerts

Come back and visit this page often to check for updates.