Today a white envelope arrived in my mailbox from "Money Network Cardholder Services" in Omaha, Nebraska. With a bland name like that, I assumed it was another junk credit card, and as I walked up the driveway I started getting incensed about scam artists who prey on elderly, more trusting people. I was even going to write a Tilda item about it.
But I opened it up anyway and read the words, "Enclosed is your Economic Impact Payment Card. This prepaid debit card is being sent to you on behalf of the U.S. Department of the Treasury in place of a paper check. This card contains the money you are receiving as a result of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES act)."
Well!
Everything was spelled right, the grammar was fine, but I was still highly suspicious. Come on, the Department of the Treasury seal didn't even say "U.S." The card came from a dot-com address, always a red flag (though the letter did mention IRS.gov). And just like a garden-variety credit card, the letter contained all the boilerplate "terms and conditions" and arbitration language and, of course, a fee schedule.
My next step was to check online . . . and to my surprise, it's actually legit! But apparently many people haven't checked, assumed it's a fake and tossed it in the trash unopened.
I called the phone number to activate the card and set my PIN and the robot informed me what the balance was. I'm not sure how that number was calculated, but I'll take it.
Oh, and the Treasury seal was accurate too.
My friend M.A. works for AARP and they just put out a very useful fact sheet about the whole operation. Here's the link: https://www.aarp.org/money/taxes/info-2020/stimulus-payment-debit-cards.html?intcmp=AE-HP-TTN-R2-POS3-REALPOSS-TODAY&fbclid=IwAR305JRENGgGC71kRrLqopjdcTxuoUAbZLuAv90fZ4w940wUSEJJ2fTKA_Q.
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