FORT WAYNE — The Indiana State Police are cautioning people to be vigilant in protecting their personal information over the next few months to avoid being scammed with the reported forthcoming economic impact payments (commonly referred to as stimulus checks.)

There will undoubtedly be those who will attempt to take advantage of the situation. Scammers never allow a good crisis to go to waste, state police said.

On March 30, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service announced that the distribution of economic impact payments should begin over the next three weeks. The checks will be distributed automatically, with no action required for most people. However, some taxpayers who typically do not file returns will need to submit a simple tax return to receive the economic impact payment.

For those who have already filed their 2019 tax returns, the IRS will use this information to calculate the payment amount. For anyone who has not yet filed their return for 2019, the IRS will use data from their 2018 tax filing to calculate the payment. The economic impact payment will be deposited directly into the same banking account reflected on the return field.

Don’t give the scammers, swindlers and frauds an open door. The IRS will not contact you via telephone or e-mail asking for any personal information. All stimulus check information will be automatically gathered by the IRS from actual tax return data.