How to Verify the Legitimacy of ‘New Stimulus Check’ Claims for Social Security

An IRS spokesperson confirmed that all Economic Impact Payments have been paid. A Treasury Department spokesperson confirmed that no new stimulus checks have been approved.

Source: NBC News

There have been numerous reports circulating online claiming that a “fourth stimulus check” will be handed out to seniors or individuals with disabilities. However, these are all just rumors.

An IRS spokesperson confirmed that all Economic Impact Payments have been paid. A Treasury Department spokesperson confirmed that no new stimulus checks have been approved.

Over 160 million U.S. taxpayers received three rounds of $1,200, $600, and $1,400 stimulus payments as part of the COVID-19 relief package passed by Congress in 2020 and 2021, according to AARP. A definitive source of information is IRS.gov, according to Burke.

The IRS states that you may only claim a 2020 or 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit by filing a 2023 tax return. The deadline to claim the 2020 credit is May 17, 2024. The deadline to claim the 2021 credit is April 15, 2025.

McKenzie Sadeghi, AI and foreign influence editor for NewsGuard, told AARP that the growth of generative artificial intelligence in content creation is at least part responsible for claims that new payments are on their way.

Claim Your Stimulus Checks Now: Discover Available Payments

“We’ve seen this claim come up regularly on these websites — that you can get a fourth stimulus check,” Sadeghi explained to AARP. “It’s very in line with the type of content that we see from them, which are hoaxes aimed at generating clicks and getting people to the site.”

The AARP also reviewed websites and videos containing a common search term like “stimulus check,” and applied it to several claims — the IRS is about to send out a new payment, multiple states are offering tax credits or rebates, and Congress is planning to increase Social Security benefits. All of these are false assertions.

According to Sadeghi, NewsGuard’s AI Tracking Center has identified over 700 news and information websites operating without human oversight. The tracker count is “just scratching the surface.”

Sadeghi recommends looking for these signs of AI-generated content:

Inconsistency: AI-generated articles may contain contradictions, conflicting information or error messages.
Repetition: Look for the repeated use of “stimulus checks” throughout the article.
No attribution: No credit is given anywhere for the source of the information.
Lack of transparency: There’s no byline and the site doesn’t disclose information about who is behind the content.