Thousands of people are growing frustrated about stimulus checks that are not showing up because they were deposited into wrong bank accounts.
Consumer reporter John Matarese shows why they may have gone missing, and what you can do so you don't waste your money.
By now, millions of Americans have received their new $600 stimulus checks.
But thousands are discovering their money went into a bank account that isn't theirs.
If your stimulus check is coming by mail, you figure it will take a few weeks.
But many people expecting a direct deposit -- like Alysha Bradshaw -- are finding something else happening.
"It says it was sent to my bank on the fourth, but the last 4 digits are not my bank account," she said.
Alysha's money instead was sent a thousand miles away.
“If I Google the routing number, it's a bank in North Dakota,” Bradshaw said.
Niecie Boyd had last year's stimulus correctly deposited, but not this time.
"The first payment was sent back in April to the correct last four digits of my account,” Boyd said. “The second payment went out January 4, but then last four digits I did not recognize, it wasn't any of my accounts."
Turns out many in this bind filed their taxes through H&R Block or Turbo Tax.
Both companies say the IRS sent some stimulus checks to them, instead of to their customers.
Now the good news is that if you are in this situation, you should not have to wait three or four weeks for the mailman to bring you a check.
Tax preparers say they are aware of what happened and are now moving money into customer accounts over the next few days.
H&R Block has issued a statement saying "Don't worry, we are sending the money by direct deposit, check, or Emerald Card."
And Turbo Tax says "for those but who don't receive the payment for any reason, it can be claimed by filing a tax return in 2021."
But that doesn't soothe taxpayers like Kyle Gulleman, who needs that $600.
"It's very frustrating,” he said. “We had to get some help to have our furnace replaced, and we are relying on that to get back to whole."
Kyle, Niecie and Alysha are hoping this error is corrected quickly.
Unfortunately, you cannot call the IRS to correct this.
So if your stimulus doesn't show up, you may have to claim it on your taxes in April so you don't waste your money.
