Fake $1,400 IRS Stimulus Text Scam Targets Americans With Phishing Links

A text message offering a final $1,400 (£1,045) stimulus payment from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is circulating on American phones. No such money exists; the refund claim deadline was 15 April 2025, more than a year ago. Anyone who taps the link gives thieves the details needed to empty an account, not fill one.

This type of fraud is profitable. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported $920 million in losses last year from scams where crooks posed as government officials, up from $789 million in 2024. Reports of government imposter scams increased by 40%, with victims over 60 losing the largest sums.

Scammers had a real program to imitate: the Recovery Rebate Credit, which paid up to $1,400 to those who missed a pandemic stimulus cheque. About $2.4 billion was sent out in December 2024 to a million taxpayers who filed 2021 returns without claiming it. No one applied, no one received a text, and the money was deposited at the address on file.

What the Message Says

Fake versions reuse the official wording. Recipients are told a $1,400 Economic Impact Payment, the government's phrase for a stimulus cheque, is waiting. The text says details need only be confirmed for the money to land within days. The sum shifts from message to message, $1,400 in some and $2,000 in others, and neither matches any current Economic Impact Payment.

Tapping the link opens a copy of the IRS website built to collect a name, a Social Security number, and bank details. Some versions may load malware onto the phone instead. Either way, the copy is close enough to pass a quick look.

Why No Payment Is Coming

Congress has authorised nothing new. Three rounds went out, the last in 2021, and a fourth would need a new law. President Donald Trump has proposed a $5,000 tariff dividend, but Congress has not authorised it. A rebate of at least $600 per person, proposed by Senator Josh Hawley, sits in committee.

The deadline to claim the 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit was 15 April 2025. IRS staff warned last summer that the credit had expired. Rumours of fresh money surface anyway, whenever household budgets tighten.

'Tax rebates and stimulus checks are a perennial source of speculation,' Michael Cohn, online editor-in-chief of Accounting Today, told Yahoo Finance. He advises anyone unsure about a windfall to check IRS.gov. That site lists which credits are open and when each one closes.

James Creech advises clients on IRS disputes at Baker Tilly and works on scam theft losses. Quick money is hard to ignore when prices rise, and a deadline is attached, he told Yahoo Finance. Once someone clicks the link and enters their bank information, he said, 'the scammers have everything they need to take your money.'

How the IRS Makes Contact

The IRS normally makes first contact by post. The agency does not initiate contact by text or social media to request personal or financial details. The IRS only sends text messages when a taxpayer has opted in. No government payment charges a processing fee.

Imposter fraud is also changing shape. 'We've seen a change in how imposter scams operate these days,' Patty Hsue, chief of staff at the FTC's Division of Marketing Practices, told CNBC in June. She described a hybrid version that opens with a fake bank alert about a compromised account. Targets believe they are guarding their savings while moving the money into an account the crook controls.

Most people who get one of these texts lose nothing. Four in five who report an imposter scam report no loss. Among the rest, the median loss is $700. The FTC logged more than a million imposter complaints in 2025.

Deleting the text is enough if you haven't replied. You can forward suspicious messages to [email protected]. Reports also go to reportfraud.ftc.gov and to the Better Business Bureau at BBB.org/ScamTracker. The IRS asks for the sender's number, the message contents, the recipient's number, and the date, time, and time zone it arrived.

One test settles the question. A real IRS payment arrives with no form to fill in and no fee to pay. A message that asks for information before the money moves is describing a payment that does not exist.