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'I Am Depressed And Defeated'; Dozens Contact CBS 2 About Missing Stimulus Checks

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Stimulus payments going to the wrong accounts.

It provoked an unprecedented response. CBS 2 been inundated with questions from dozens and dozens of people asking: where's my money?

Jim Williams reports CBS 2 has contacted by the frustrated viewers who reached out after they saw CBS 2's Lauren Victory's report on the misplaced stimulus money, asking if they'd talk about their experiences. Many joined Willian on a Zoom call.

Their names are Robert, Richard, Nick and Bridget.

"My name is Bridget, and I am depressed and defeated."

Joining them are Jess, Crystal and Byron.

"My name is Byron. My anxiety level is over 9,000."

Add to the list, Levina, Tameka and Joyce, among others.

"My name is Joyce that I'm extremely frustrated."

They all told the same story: stimulus checks are missing. Some the IRS electronically sent to the wrong back accounts.

"Convinced bank, or some type of bank I never heard of," Levina said.

"And it's only four digits. So I can't find out what account," said Byron.

Or accounts that didn't exist.

"The bank explained to me that the account that they use for us to get our tax return has been closed," said one person waiting for payment.

Which they discovered when they logged on the IRS website. What's puzzling is that they got the first stimulus payment this spring without a hitch and hadn't switched banks.

"Should have been a lot smoother. It was already done back in May and to just totally screw up my payment after I've done nothing to change any information," said Robert.

Their frustration mounted when they called the IRS and were unable to get answers.

"With the high level of technology that we have in the world, I think, is it's a disgrace, especially with the millions of people who are out of work," said another person.

Some are struggling financially and need the money. Sherry has been out of work since June.

"I don't know. I don't want to start crying. I'm sorry," added another frustrated person waiting for her money.

Crystal got some good news after our Zoom conference. The IRS sent her stimulus check to H&R Block, which had prepared her taxes, and H&R Block forwarded the money to her account. She needed it to get a new apartment.

"We needed this to complete our move. We had the first month but we didn't have the security deposit. So this gives us what we needed to a get a new place," Crystal said.

Most on the call today had something else in common: they used the Turbo Tax software to prepare their tax returns.

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