Fake Checks and Overpayment Scams

This scam fools careful, honest people because it abuses something true about how banks work. Someone sends you a check (for a job, a sale, a 'prize,' a 'mystery shopper' gig) and it's for more than expected. They ask you to deposit it and send the extra back, or forward part of it to a 'vendor.' Your bank shows the money in your account, so it feels real. Days later the check turns out to be fake, the bank pulls the funds back, and the money you already sent is gone. From your pocket, not theirs.

By law, banks usually make deposited funds available within a day or two. But available is not the same as cleared. Clearing means the check actually went back to the sender's bank and the money truly moved, which can take many more days. During that gap, the money looks like yours; if the check is fake, it never existed. When it finally bounces, the bank reverses the deposit and you're responsible for whatever you spent or sent.

Money showing up in your account does not mean a check has cleared. A check can bounce days or even weeks after the funds appear, and you're on the hook for every dollar you moved in the meantime.

• You're paid by check for a job and then asked to buy 'supplies' or 'equipment' and send money on.
• A buyer for something you're selling online 'accidentally' sends too much and asks for the difference back.
• A 'mystery shopper' role wants you to deposit a check and wire-test part of it.
• Any setup where someone gives you money and then needs some of it returned, fast, by wire, gift card, crypto, or payment app.

1. 1Never send money back from a check someone sent you. That single rule defeats the entire scam.
2. 2If you must rely on a check, wait until it has truly cleared. Ask your bank to confirm, and remember that 'available' is not 'cleared.'
3. 3Treat any 'overpayment' as a giant red flag. Honest people don't overpay and ask you to refund the difference.
4. 4Be extra wary of jobs or deals where step one is depositing a check and step two is sending money out.

The whole trick depends on you moving money before the truth catches up. Take that away, by never refunding or forwarding funds from a check that landed in your lap, and there's nothing left for the scammer to steal. If you've already sent money, call your bank immediately, then follow the steps in What to Do If You've Been Scammed.