Federal relief fund scam tracked by Better Business Bureau

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — The Better Business Bureau has reported more than 800 calls and messages nationwide regarding payroll scams involving federal relief funds over the past two months, which have now affected north Alabama over the past week.

“Consumers started receiving calls from someone named Dan,” said Karen Reeves, president and CEO of the BBB of North Alabama. “It tries to trick you into going to a website, www.myreliefcheck.com, and checking to see if you have federal funds or unclaimed funds in your name.”

Reeves said the caller, Dan, calls from a number with a 256 area code and leaves a voicemail stating that you may have unclaimed funds in your name in the amount of $5,286.

Once the victim logs into the website, this is where the scammer collects your personal and financial information.

“Immediately we started seeing reports from scam trackers about this, but this is what they’re doing in every state, and it creates a false sense of urgency,” Reeves said.

Reeves told News 19 the main key to understanding the call is a scam is that a government agency will never make a phone call and a government agency website will always end in .gov.

“You never get a live person when you call the number back,” Reeves said. “It’s another red flag and it’s not necessarily the same number 256.”

You can contact the Better Business Bureau of North Alabama for information on local agencies that have offered to help furloughed federal workers.