Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador’s office sent a warning alerting Idahoans about text messages purporting to offer $2,000 tariff rebate checks.

The messages, which tell recipients that they must click a link and provide personal information in order to collect a check, are fraudulent. While the Trump administration has expressed a desire to send tariff dividend refund checks in 2026, no such policy has been approved by Congress.

“Scams like this are all too familiar, especially around the holiday season,” the attorney general said in a press release. “The best way to prevent scams is to learn how to spot them in advance and flag any potential scams for my Consumer Protection Division.”

The Consumer Protection Division is intended to enforce fairness and honesty among businesses and consumers. They reminded Idahoans that government agencies do not send text messages offering or demanding payment, and that those with questions should contact agencies through their public, official phone numbers if they are uncertain of a message’s origin.

According to the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), Idahoans lost $53 million to scams in 2024, while $12.5 billion was lost nationwide. Warning signs of a text message- or email-based scam include a framing of urgency, promises of free money, and frequent misspellings, capitalization and exclamation points.

The attorney general office’s web page ReportScamsIdaho.com directs users to a variety of agencies — including the FBI, Federal Trade Commission and Better Business Bureau — that scams can be reported to, depending on the type.