Congress has not passed a $6,400 subsidy for low-income Americans

If you are down on your financial luck, a new social media post claiming you’re eligible for up to $6,400 from Congress to cover basic needs may sound appealing.

A Jan. 15 Facebook video claims low-income Americans can access a new 2024 congressional  subsidy to help pay for everything from rent to groceries. The post features a video that appears to be a CNN broadcast with the caption: "Claim your part today: It is the financial relief 33.5 million Americans have been waiting for!"

"The new subsidy announced by Congress this January is giving $6,400 worth of credits to low- income Americans, including zero-dollar health care, which should allow them to afford essentials such as groceries, gas and rent," a narrator said. 

In the video, a woman makes a phone call and talks to an operator about claiming this subsidy. "The $6,400 credits are real. so I can help you qualify for that quickly," the operator said. The post links to a website where visitors are asked to provide personal information.

The post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

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Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz “says that if Democrats win they’ll make (U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) speaker of the house.”

We could not find any such subsidy passed by Congress when we reviewed LegiScan, a website that tracks bills through the legislative process. The website associated with the post, americasavingplan.com, is not maintained by the federal government, and we could not find evidence of any such CNN broadcast.

Scams online are as old as the internet itself, but this post is part of a new wave that targets low-income people and offers enticing, but nonexistent, government subsidies. In recent weeks, PolitiFact has checked many similar claims promising to connect low-income earners with financial assistance from the government or to help with credit card debt. Such claims often use the same $6,400 figure and buzzwords such as "zero-dollar healthcare."

Online scammers employ these schemes to extract money from unsuspecting people or use personal details, such as Social Security numbers, to steal people’s identities. 

The government has noticed this trend, and agencies such the Federal Trade Commission have tips for spotting and reporting scams. 

"Offers of free money from government grants are scams," the commission said. "Scammers make big promises. They might say you can get free money or a grant to pay for education, home repairs, home business expenses, household bills, or other personal needs."

We rate the claim that Congress has passed a $6,400 subsidy for low-income Americans False.