Scam emails falsely claims people ‘must act’ to claim a $2,000 ‘tariff dividend’

An email advertisement claims people can secure President Donald Trump’s $2,000 "tariff payout," claiming interested parties "must act" to secure the money.

"Trump’s $2,000 tariff dividend is live but you must act," says a Jan. 16 email from a group that calls itself Major Gross Profit. The email encourages readers to click a link to secure a $2,000 "tariff payout." And it notes that "the first checks are just the beginning." 

The message has caused U.S. recipients of the message to question whether a tariff payment once promised by President Donald Trump could be forthcoming.  

In November, Trump pledged to share tariff revenues with Americans in the form of dividends. However, that has yet to happen, and Trump has provided few details about his plan. 

In other words: The money isn’t yet available. Even if it were, the government probably wouldn’t require most eligible Americans "to act." It would be unusual for the government to direct people to a third-party in order to access dividends. In the past, including during the COVID-19 pandemic under Trump’s first term, the federal government issued stimulus money to Americans directly. 

PolitiFact emailed Major Gross Profit but didn’t receive a response. The company’s email names Finance and Investing Traffic, LLC, in Delaware, as its parent company. Finance and Investing Traffic isn’t accredited by the Better Business Bureau, a nonprofit agency that tracks business services. The bureau’s website shows more than two dozen complaints about the company’s tactics, especially spam emails.

Information technology professionals said the email could pose a cybersecurity threat. 

Scammers sometimes send emails to people hoping the recipient will share personal information, such as their social security number, said Steven Weisman, a law professor at Bentley University who studies cybersecurity threats. 

Weisman noted that Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador recently warned Idahoans about unsolicited text messages claiming recipients must act urgently to receive $2,000 tariff rebate checks. "Any message claiming you must respond to receive a payment is a scam," Labrador said in a consumer alert. 

The Major Gross Profit email encourages people to click links that will open a new page. Weisman cautioned against that. "In some instances, merely clicking on the link will download malware," he said. 

Vassil Roussev, director of the University of New Orleans Cyber Center, clicked on one of the Major Gross Profit email’s links while in a safe technological environment. He sent us a screenshot showing the email redirects to a webpage encouraging people to buy gold from a specific company. "President Trump’s economic revival plan is delivering and the media’s silence proves it," the webpage claimed.

No tariff checks approved

During the first year of his second term, Trump imposed tariffs — which are basically import taxes — on a range of products from other countries, in an effort to raise U.S. revenue. Tariffs are paid by the companies exporting the goods to the U.S. Those companies often pass the added cost to consumers in the form of higher prices.

The U.S. Supreme Court is considering the legality of Trump’s actions on tariffs, which he instituted using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act in order to go around Congress, a constitutionally questionable strategy. If justices rule against Trump, they could force the government to return some of its tariff revenue — potentially shrinking the pot of money available for dividends. 

Trump’s tariffs helped the U.S. collect about $189 billion more in tariff revenues in 2025 than it did in 2024, according to the Penn Wharton Budget Model. If Trump’s tariffs are left in place, they could raise $2.2 trillion dollars in federal government revenue over the next decade, according to a Jan. 9 analysis by the nonprofit Tax Foundation. That total sum could shrink depending on economic factors, such as how foreign nations respond to the tariffs, Tax Foundation said. 

In a Nov. 9 social media post, Trump said he would use the revenue to issue "a dividend of at least $2,000 a person (not including high income people!)" — a claim he reiterated the next day. 

Trump didn’t say what the income eligibility requirements might be if the checks are ever sent out. Giving $2,000 to all 340 million Americans would cost the U.S. government $680 billion.

Speaking to reporters Jan. 20, Trump reiterated his plan to issue $2,000 dividends at some point in the future: "We have so much money coming in from tariffs … we will be able to make a very substantial dividend to the people of our country," Trump said.

The Trump administration hasn’t issued any specific guidance on how or when dividends will be issued. When contacted by PolitiFact, the White House declined to immediately provide additional information. 

In November, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said a $2,000 dividend could "come in lots of forms," such as tax decreases or other savings already achieved through legislation. Kevin Hassett, who Trump appointed as director of the National Economic Council, said in December that Trump would likely need congressional approval to issue the funds. 

Asked by reporters on Jan. 20 about Hassett’s comments, Trump said he disagreed with his advisor: "I don’t think we would have to go to Congress, but we’ll find out," Trump said. 

If the Trump administration does ultimately issue the dividend, history suggests it wouldn’t require people to go through a third party. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump administration issued economic stimulus checks to people’s bank accounts with no action required for most people.

"Funds distributed digitally are distributed as direct deposits to taxpayer accounts at financial institutions, not processed by a third party," said Alex Muresianu, a senior policy analyst at Tax Foundation. 

The Internal Revenue Service in 2020 sent stimulus payments directly to people’s bank accounts using data filed with the previous year’s tax returns. Those who hadn’t filed tax returns were encouraged to the IRS website for further guidance. 

Spokespeople for the IRS and the U.S. Treasury Department, which oversees the IRS, didn’t respond to requests for more information on Trump’s promised $2,000 dividends.

Our ruling

An email advertisement claims that "Trump’s $2,000 tariff dividend is live but" Americans "must act." Trump hasn’t issued a tariff dividend. And even if the money had been released, the move likely wouldn’t require many people "to act." Those who would have to take action to access the funds likely wouldn’t have to go through a third party. We rate the claim False.

PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.