No Action Needed To Receive Social Security Stimulus Check

May 7th, 2009 • Related • Filed Under • by trisha

The Social Security Administration is reminding seniors or other social security recipients that no action is needed to receive stimulus check. As part of the governments economic stimulus package, eligible recipients will receive a special one time payment of $250 from the Social Security Administration. Predictably con artists, always looking for an easy mark, are now targeting seniors by telephone or email.

If you qualify for this special payment you should know that no action is required on your part to secure your payment. This means you do not have to fill out any applications, forms, or pay any fees to process your payment. Scammers are sending out mass emails hoping to find someone who will take the bait and provide them with personal information that will be undoubtedly be used to perform identity theft or credit card fraud. Similar to other email scams found in your inbox, this scam claims to have “urgent news” regarding your stimulus payment. Consumers unaware of this scam may be tempted to click on a link provided which will then direct them to a bogus website. Unfortunately email scams have become quite sophisticated in that con artists are able to create websites that look like the real thing. In this case the website will look very much like a government website which may lead individuals to disclose personal information such as bank account numbers, date of birth or social security numbers. The best way to avoid being victim of a scam is to never disclose sensitive information in response to unsolicited correspondence.

The following information provides answers to commonly asked questions regarding this one time payment.

Eligible individuals include certain individuals who receive Social Security or SSI, Railroad Retirement or Veterans benefits. To qualify for the payment you must have been eligible for benefits in the final two months of 2008 or January of 2009 with an address of record in one of the 50 states or its territories.
As previously stated there is no action required on your part to receive this payment. Eligible individuals should receive the payment by the end of May 2009 in the standard form they usually receive benefits (direct deposit or paper check). The payment will be seperate from your regular benefit payment and consumers are urged to not contact the Social Security Administration regarding your payment unless you have not received it by June 4, 2009.
This economic recovery payment will not count as income or earnings for Social Security disability benefits.
Individuals will only receive this payment one time. This means if you receive more than one type of qualifying benefit you will only get one $250 payment, not one payment for each benefit you currently receive. If both you and your spouse however collect benefits you will each receive one payment.