Nigerian scammers have created more than 50 fake US government websites in an attempt to steal the identities of Americans seeking additional stimulus payments, reports DomainTools, an information security firm

The website addresses include "AmericanReliefPlancom," "AmericaFundForStimuluscom," and "ReliefCareFundscom" (The full list is in the DomainTools report) These sites claim to be related to the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, legislation signed into law in March by President Joe Biden and creating the third wave of the stimulus package

The act also provides for a six-month advance on the child tax credit in 2021; nearly every American citizen with a child under the age of 18 will receive several hundred dollars a month from the federal government between July and December

In most cases, the American parent or legal guardian does not have to do anything to get that money The first checks and account transfers were made on July 15 However, the US government has not made that clear, and people are understandably wondering how they will receive the cash

That's where the scammers jump in

Chad Anderson, a senior security researcher at DomainTools, noted in one of his company's reports that "many people who receive relief are unaware that this relief is automatically assigned by the IRS"

"Scammers are using this as an opportunity to collect Social Security numbers and driver's license photos for identity theft

Scam sites also ask for, among other things, your cell phone number, home address, date of birth, and mother's maiden name

The cell phone number can be used to reset your online account password, as can your mother's maiden name Address and date of birth combined with full name and social security number can be used to steal identity

DomainTools discovered that a legitimate web design firm in Ibadan, western Nigeria, had registered questionable domains at least through early June According to Anderson, DomainTools attempted to contact this web design company, but received no response

Therefore, if you come across a site that claims you need to provide personal information in order to receive child tax credits, be very suspicious The only site that asks for such information is the very boring-looking IRS Child Tax Credit portal, whose address ends in "irsgov"

Again, almost everyone who qualifies for the child tax credit advance is automatically enrolled Most people do not need to do anything