From various settlements to data breaches to the IRS, the VERIFY team answered your questions and fact-checked dozens of financial claims in 2022.
To look back on 2022, the VERIFY team reviewed which money stories you read the most. Here’s the top five:
Social Security was created in 1935 to pay retired workers age 65 or older a continuing income after retirement. Currently, one in five Americans receives a Social Security benefit from the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).
Typically, these are set payments that come each month. But VERIFY viewer Tom wanted to know whether Social Security recipients will get a bonus payment in September 2022.
We VERIFIED that while Social Security recipients were due to get two payments in September, it wasn’t a bonus payment. Instead, the second deposit was the October payment, received a day early. Typically, recipients get their payments on the first of the month, but when the first falls on a holiday or weekend, the schedule is shifted. This year, Oct. 1 fell on a Saturday, which explained why social security recipients received two payments in September.
Social Security payments are sent out on a strict schedule. Most retirees get their payments on the second, third or fourth Wednesday of each month, depending on their birth date.
Earlier this year, several politicians claimed the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) purchased hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of ammunition. In July, VERIFY viewer Ian asked us to confirm if that was true.
We checked it out and found that between March 1 and June 1, 2022, the criminal division of the IRS ordered $696,000 in ammunition. The IRS confirmed the total in an email to VERIFY.
The order was for the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) division, which is a federal law enforcement agency that conducts criminal investigations, including tax violations, money laundering, cyber crimes, and organized crime involving drugs and gangs. There are more than 2,000 sworn special agents in the division.
An IRS spokesperson told VERIFY special agents within the division have been carrying firearms throughout the agency's more than 100-year history.
In 2018, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report on what the IRS spent on firearms and ammunition from 2010 through 2017.
From 2010 through 2017, the IRS has spent an average of $675,000 on ammunition a year, the report shows. During that time, the IRS spent the most in 2011, with $1,100,000 in spending.
In May, VERIFY viewer Tamara reached out to us after she received an email about a Capital One data breach and settlement and asked our team to confirm whether it was real or not. We VERIFIED the data breach and settlement were legit, and stemmed from a July 2019 cyber attack.
On a webpage that provides information about the 2019 attack, Capital One instructs customers affected by the breach to visit capitalonesettlement.com for additional details about the settlement. The website is legit and was still active as of Dec. 29, 2022.
According to the settlement administrator, Capital One was required to establish a settlement fund of $190 million. The settlement fund would be used to:
- Make cash payments for out-of-pocket losses and lost time;
- Purchase identity defense services;
- Purchase restoration services for all settlement class members, regardless of whether they make a claim;
- Pay the costs of notifying settlement class members and administering the settlement;
- Pay service awards to settlement class representatives and any other settlement class member who was deposed in the action, as approved by the court;
- Pay attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses, as approved by the court.
To confirm you are a settlement class member, and eligible for benefits, you can call 1-855-604-1811 or contact the settlement administrator at info@CapitalOneSettlement.com.
The second-most read money story at verifythis.com, sandwiched right between the first and third, was about peanut butter.
On May 20, the J.M. Smucker Co. announced a voluntary recall of dozens of Jif peanut butter products for potential salmonella contamination.
Following the announcement, people on social media were wondering if they could get a refund if they bought a jar of the recalled peanut butter. The VERIFY team found out you could get a refund if you purchased the recalled product.
Affected customers had to fill out a reimbursement form on the Jif website – which is no longer active because the recall period has passed. During the eligibility period, customers could return the recalled products at the grocery store where they purchased the peanut butter.
VERIFY’s top money story of 2022 was about how eligible people could receive a pay-out from tax service TurboTax.
In May, attorneys general for all 50 states and the District of Columbia announced they reached a $141 million settlement with Intuit, the creator of TurboTax, over deceptive practices regarding its free tax-filing services.
At the time, people were wondering how they would know if they were eligible for any funds awarded.
We VERIFIED that people who qualified for the settlement didn’t have to file a claim to receive money from the TurboTax settlement. Eligible customers should have received checks in the mail.
Each person would have received a check for about $30 for every year they were deceived into paying to file their federal tax return, the Office of New York Attorney General Letitia James said.
The VERIFY team works to separate fact from fiction so that you can understand what is true and false. Please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter, text alerts and our YouTube channel. You can also follow us on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Learn More »
