People are throwing out their stimulus money

Admittedly, distributing economic recovery payments to 150 million taxpayers in record time is hard, but the Treasury program has suffered its share of setbacks. After sending payments to dead people and ten-year-olds, the government is now mailing prepaid debit cards to taxpayers for whom the IRS has no bank information, and people are apparently throwing them out.

marketwatch.com: Don’t toss that junk mail in the recycling bin just yet

To be sure, there is good reason that the cards don't arrive in envelopes boldly proclaiming "your cash is here" but they are arrive in anonymous envelopes looking much like junk mail and the cards themselves have a generic look that could lead someone who is not paying much information to toss them in the trash. According to news reports, including MarketWatch, some people have had to fish the chopped-up pieces out of the coffee grounds to reassemble then.

If you haven't gotten your payment yet, by direct deposit or by mail, visit the IRS Get My Payment tool to check whether one has been processed. If the tool shows it has been sent to a bank account or a payment was mailed, but you haven't received it, you'll probably have to call the IRS (800-829-1040), but be prepared for a long time on hold. Although the Service recently put 3,500 additional representatives on the phone lines, call volume remains high. Calling early in the morning is usually best -- the phone lines open at 7 am local time.

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