Messages wrongly offer ‘Biden stimulus loans’

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Social media posts advertise "Biden stimulus loans" of up to $40,000. But Congress has not approved any such program, and the website linked in the posts is operated by a private loan broker with no ties to the US government.

"(July 2022) We've been waiting for this and CNBC just announced it!" said a Facebook of July 20, 2022 Publish. "Stimulus loans up to $40,000 are finally available. The application process only takes 1-2 minutes."

The post features photos of US President Joe Biden and what appears to be a check. Similar Facebook messages refer to a website that directs to an online site loan broker solicit nominations.

Screenshot of a Facebook post taken on July 25, 2022

The website does not mention a link to a government program - and the Biden administration has not approved a stimulus loan package.

"This is not a government program or government assistance, this is an infomercial for a lending service," reads a disclaimer on the website shared in posts.

The US rescue planwhich Biden signed on March 11, 2021, included emergency grants and business loans aimed at offsetting the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. But the package did not include personal loans, as the publications suggest.

A spokesperson for the US Treasury Department told AFP that the site's offering "is not, to my knowledge, a government program".

The White House has proposed an additional economic plan called Building back better. But this does not include a personal lending program, either - and the measure has not past Congress.

The online posts are the latest in a series of misleading social media posts that advertise private loans under the guise of government assistance.

AFP has already denied other inaccurate claims about offers of financial aid here and here.