claim: an 800 phone number can be used for tracking the status of coronavirus economic stimulus payments.
question: no, this is not a phone number for tracking your coronavirus stimulus payments
origin: some april fools’ day jokes outlive their marginal and ephemeral usefulness and continue to be spread as valid bits of information long after april 1 has come and passed. one example of such occurred in 2020, when a jape about a toll-free phone number that could be used for tracking the status of $1,200 economic stimulus payments being sent to u.s. taxpayers continued to circulate via social media:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  the federal government has not yet announced an automated system for tracking stimulus payments. persons who call the number shown above may end up “stimulated,” but not in an economic sense — it connects callers with a phone sex line.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  the irs reportedly will start issuing stimulus payments via direct deposit beginning on april 9. taxpayers who receive paper checks (because the irs does not have their bank account information on file) may be receiving their payments anywhere between april 24 and september 11, depending upon their adjusted gross income.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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comment: the irs has not announced if americans will be able to track the status of their stimulus payments as they do federal income tax refunds.
summary: the irs reportedly will start issuing stimulus payments via direct deposit beginning on april 9. taxpayers who receive paper checks may be receiving their payments anywhere between april 24 and september 11. persons who call the number shown above may end up “stimulated,” but not in an economic sense — it connects callers with a phone sex line. the federal government has not yet announced an automated system for tracking stimulus payments.