Scammers need a good story to get to your wallet. Once they find one that works, they use it again and again. One of their old favorites brings together fake checks and secret shopping, and we’ve been hearing a lot about it lately.
Here’s how it starts. You get a check in the mail with a job offer as a secret shopper. You deposit the check and see the funds in your account a few days later, and the bank even tells you the check has cleared.
Now you’re off to the store you’ve been asked to shop at and report back on, often a Walmart. Your first assignment is to test the in-store money transfer service, like Western Union or MoneyGram, by sending some of the money you deposited. Or you might be told to use the money to buy reloadable cards or gift cards, such as iTunes cards. You’re instructed to send pictures of the cards or to give the numbers on the cards.
Fast forward days or weeks to the unhappy ending. The bank finds out the check you deposited is a fake, which means you’re on the hook for all that money. How does that even happen? Well, banks must make funds from deposited checks available within days, but uncovering a fake check can take weeks. By the time you try to get the money back from the money transfer service, the scammers are long gone, and they’ve taken all the money off the gift cards, too. (By the way, money orders and cashier’s checks can be faked, too.)
The moral of the story? If anyone ever asks you to deposit a check and then wire or send money in any way, you can bet it’s a scam. No matter what they tell you.
Want to avoid the latest rip-offs? Sign up for free scam alerts from the FTC at FTC.gov/Scams.
It is your choice whether to submit a comment. If you do, you must create a user name, or we will not post your comment. The Federal Trade Commission Act authorizes this information collection for purposes of managing online comments. Comments and user names are part of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) public records system, and user names also are part of the FTC’s computer user records system. We may routinely use these records as described in the FTC’s Privacy Act system notices. For more information on how the FTC handles information that we collect, please read our privacy policy.
The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.
We don't edit comments to remove objectionable content, so please ensure that your comment contains none of the above. The comments posted on this blog become part of the public domain. To protect your privacy and the privacy of other people, please do not include personal information. Opinions in comments that appear in this blog belong to the individuals who expressed them. They do not belong to or represent views of the Federal Trade Commission.
In reply to Richard Brooks text my by CourtneyB
In reply to Sam exact attempted scam by ChrisT54
In reply to Sam exact attempted scam by ChrisT54
In reply to Same exact thing, money's by MMOB
In reply to Thank you! Similar scam just by Not In Houston
In reply to Our postage.com account was by Priority Mail Hacked
In reply to Huh, I've got a priority mail by BW
In reply to Our postage.com account was by Priority Mail Hacked
In reply to Kindly Confirm you have by i wonder if I …
In reply to Wow glad I saw this they just by Anonymous
In reply to I had a similar experience. by FS
In reply to Wow glad I saw this they just by Anonymous
In reply to Wow, just received the same. by Kimmy88
In reply to Wow, just received the same. by Kimmy88
In reply to Kindly Confirm you have by i wonder if I …
In reply to This is number they are using by Nikki0117 this…
In reply to Well I got the secret shopper by Jlh121275
In reply to I received a 998.00 dollars by Ronda
In reply to JJ I just received the same by JJ Home
In reply to JJ I just received the same by JJ Home
In reply to Wow how very crushing... I by Catherine813
In reply to Well I got the secret shopper by Jlh121275
In reply to Well I got the secret shopper by Jlh121275
In reply to We r looking in the mirror . by Sompot21
In reply to We r looking in the mirror . by Sompot21
In reply to Just recieved two checks for2 by MommaT
In reply to This is number they are using by Nikki0117 this…
In reply to Kindly Confirm you have by i wonder if I …
In reply to How long did it take for them by Mr.curious
In reply to Thank you! Similar scam just by Not In Houston
In reply to Yeah they used priority mail by Eve sols
In reply to I was approached on LinkedIn by PamMc
In reply to Same thing just happened to by ddj
In reply to Just received one today for by Larchave
In reply to interesting, I just received by Definitely a scam
In reply to Just received one today for by Larchave
In reply to Just received one today for by Larchave
In reply to Just received one today for by Larchave
In reply to I received the same thing in by Cook
In reply to I was approached on LinkedIn by PamMc
In reply to So glad I researched about by IrritatedinWI
In reply to Oh my god ! I’m so happy that by Mel
In reply to same here by suzy q
In reply to I knew something was fishy. by glkikuni
In reply to I just got the same amount in by Bob
In reply to I just received a check today by Sam
In reply to What a coincidence i was by Alayne
In reply to same here by suzy q
In reply to Same here. Just got the same by Mack55
In reply to Oh my god ! I’m so happy that by Mel
Pagination