Nursing homes in several states are requesting their residents sign over their federal coronavirus stimulus checks, even though they have no claim for them, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
"This is not just a horror story making the rounds," Louis Greisman, the FTC's Elder Justice Coordinator, told CNN. "These are actual reports that our friends in the Iowa Attorney General's office have been getting and handling. Other states have seen the same."
Some of the facilities are saying they get to keep the money if a patient is a Medicaid recipient, but that is not true because the checks are considered tax credits, not as resources for to be counted as income for people receiving federal benefit programs.
Greisman said facility owners should report the practice and return the money, and residents and family members should contact their state attorney general's office if money has been taken.
Several scams posted online and through robocalls started popping up in March, before the checks headed out, in which people claiming to work for the federal government were asking people for their personal information so they could scam them out of their checks. Some links also have malware that can be used to steal private information that will allow scammers to claim people's checks.
The FTC now has a resource online to help identify coronavirus scams.