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If you have a car, you know how expensive the upkeep can be. Gas, maintenance, parking – the whole lot. So what if a company offered to pay you to drive around – which you were already doing – with their branding wrapped onto your car? It could sound like a good deal.

We’ve heard about some car wrap scams that have targeted college students, a group known to look for ways to make a few extra bucks. The gist of the scam is this: The scammers send emails with messages like “GET PAID TO DRIVE.” They offer to pay you $250-$350 a week if you’ll drive around with your car (or truck or motorcycle) wrapped to advertise a well-known product – or even an event like the 2020 Olympics.

If you bite, they’ll send you a check to deposit into your bank account. Then they’ll tell you to use some of that money so a “specialist” can put the ads on your car. And they’ll tell you to pay by money order, Walmart money services, or by making a cash deposit directly into the “specialist’s” bank account – all ways that are hard to cancel or get your money back.

For a lot of people, it’s only once their money is gone – and no car wrap materializes – that they figure out the “specialist” is really the scammer. And that check they deposited is a fake. Which also means the bank will take back the amount of that fake check…leaving people out even more money. Here’s how that works:

Infographic describing how fake check scams work

Spotted a scam like this? We want to hear about it. Let us know at FTC.gov/complaint.

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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.

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Missiek67
March 24, 2020
What happens if the back takes the check. How do you not get in trouble with the Bank?
Owensrene
March 24, 2020
I just received a 4,000 check today 03/24/2020. My instructions are to deposit into my bank and text Mr. Amour when it’s done. Spend 500.00 and the rest is the wrapping company. They used a steel company out of California where the check is from, I googled the companies phone number and they verified the scam.
Outcast6987
July 14, 2020

In reply to by Owensrene

I received a check today for $3500 with a letter that also said to text Me. Amour. I have not deposited the check and will not deposit it. I had a feeling it was a scam as soon as I opened the package, but the check they sent me is from a Umpqua Bank in Oregon. It says it's from industrial source national fire fighter.
scotty
January 23, 2021

In reply to by Outcast6987

Got wrap offer and check from g recian steak house. Is this a scam?
Jkoler5
March 28, 2020
Yes I received a check but didn’t deposit it ! They are now texting me 3 times a day to deposit the check ! The texts that I’m receiving are not grammatically correct . I’m being scammed.
Volswin13
April 09, 2020
Thanks FTC I received 2 fake checks one for the Walmart secret shopper scam and the other for the car wrap scam. Thanks for your warnings.
trippdouble
April 10, 2020
Chad Stubbs from Mt Dew sent me a check for 2,923.00 told me to deposit and text him back when done
Careallot
April 18, 2020
Someone sent me a check for a car advertising is there away to find if its good or bad
SmartDoc
April 22, 2020
I was looking for a way to make some extra money when I came across an opportunity to to make $2,000.00 a month to have my car wrapped for advertising. I applied and was sent a check for $4,950.00 . I was to take my pay and send the remainder to the technician doing the work. That they would send money to me sight unseen, they could not even verify that I had a car. I blocked the number and came to this sight to report the company.
Erikabaga
April 28, 2020
Wow!.. I had recived a 2,512 check from a car wrap thing from somewhere in texas but i do not own a bank account i would usually cash my checks at a little market/check cashing store. And well i was always honest and they trusted me enough to cash me this check... But after that i had a family emergency and from Hemet,Ca. In Riverside co. i had to move back to Thousand Oaks,CA in Ventura co. Within the 10th day of cashing my check i got a call from my ex tellin me i had to go n talk to the owner at the store cuz i had givin him a fake check... So since i was still waittin for them to call me n give me an info of what to do with the money i had recived...i just send them an email tellin them sorry but you will recive nothing from the fake check u send to me and i was able to cash and with out gettin in trouble with cops. I told the owner of store and told him the situation and for my luck he understood and worked a payment plan wich of it i only send one time of $300. Because he later on past away that week and his wife sold the place so for the 2nd payment i had nowhere to contact the lady and well i kept the rest of the $2,212. Can i still get in trouble for that??? Since i had no fault and i was going to pay up the man and the agrement was made by word only. According to him i was not reported to the police and he had insurance but he just had to pay a fine to im guessin the bank but i could just pay him every month a total of $300. So i wouldnt stress myself if i had by any chance spend that money already. I feel really bad but then again he left me or any one nothing to follow in case we couldnt get in contact anymore. What can hapend to me? any know?
Mad
April 29, 2020
Auto wrap campaign sent a check wanted me to cash it then send them money
Sammy
May 03, 2020
This scam is active again. The people are using a wixsite, it looks authentic.
Laurie Danielle
May 03, 2020
We have three vehicles I'll be more than happy to do just one but if you'd like I do them all
not a sucker
May 05, 2020
Recently received a check for $2851 from NY Police Benevolent Association on a JP Morgan Chase check sent from Paddington Life Insurance Company regarding a car wrap for Coolhaus Ice Cream in Covina CA. How stupid do these thieves think we are?
Cass1704
August 19, 2020

In reply to by not a sucker

I just got a check for the exact same amount from Coolhaus also. Has anyone been texting you?
Big daddy
May 11, 2020
We have received to of these and just laughed , just the nature of the scam is in your face fake ,dont do it who can I report the checks too?
sdkidx
May 12, 2020
Latest version is for dr pepper. scam comes to you via text messaging, urging you to put your info on a website that looks like a Dr. Pepper site--- but with horrible "broken english" writing. the domain name drpepperdrinksDOTcom is registered in Bangladesh.
CoastalCC
July 19, 2020

In reply to by sdkidx

I almost missed this! I receved a check for 3760 via FedEx Overnight to advertise for Dr. Pepper. I texted the number from the letter that came with it and they instructed me to deposit the check and take a picture of the deposit slip for verification - then I would receive further instructions. And they scheduled an appointment for the specialist to come over on Monday. After I deposited the check, that's when they told me about how I was supposed to pay the specialist $3100 and keep the remaining $660 for my first week's advertising. When I asked how I was supposed to pay the specialist (by check?), they asked if I had a PayPal acct., or a Square or a couple of other payment apps. I told them no. They said that I was to text them as soon as the funds became available, and I would receive further instruction on how to pay the specialist. The funds became available at Midnight on Friday. I decided to stall them until Monday, when I could get in to the bank and let them know that it was possibly a bad check (and see if they were interested in catching them). I rescheduled the specialist appointment to Wednesday, since the funds still weren't available. They said OK. So I'll be at the bank when they open tomorrow, with this site's information printed out and the envelope the check came in and my text conversation with the scammer. SO CLOSE! I'm so glad I checked!
H. Guerra
November 08, 2020

In reply to by CoastalCC

So what happened? Once the funds cleared and then let them know it was a fake... were there any fees or repercussions to you?
LINDA W.
May 22, 2020
I was sent a check to be a secret shopper, I to, was suppose to keep a small portion for myself, and then get, gift cards for the rest, and then scratch all the cards, and to take a photo of them, being sure to get ALL the numbers, and text them the pics. I have also, been tried to do the car wrap scam, basically the same way, but they wanted me to send them a money order for the remaining money, and to pay the wrapper a check for a large portion of the money, Before, he came to wrap the car!! It's really getting to seem pretty legit, I really feel sorry for the folks, who believe these jerks!!
Qwerty
May 22, 2020
I was contacted about this via text message
daleygirl
May 29, 2020
I just got a car wrap offer from russellhernandez138 , if you want to investigate. $400 a week. The salary must have gone up. It was a text, no idea where they got my number.
Don't use your…
May 24, 2020
Last Friday I got a check from Asi,Cincinnati addressed in Ohio for $1930.00 Reeds Jones the district coordinator from Philadelphia texted me to make sure deposit the check some I did deposit the check at the Chase bank Atm into my checking account.Reeds Jones told me to send 1400.00 via Zelle to Angel Londono the Car Wrap Specialist to get the job started on Saturday his was yesterday sold I told my family member about the situation and the check being deposited.She investigated found out that it a scam. Chase Bank put a hold on my account.
Natscattster
June 25, 2020

In reply to by Don't use your…

I have chase and this happened to me before but I told them my situation and told them I wanted to know if it was real and it wasn't.
Rpawnell
May 29, 2020
I just got $2,000 in the mail telling me that I had signed up for this and that they wanted me to deposit the money text and let them know the amount and blah blah blah this was May 26th 2020. I thought it was legal but my bank wouldn't even approve it go into the bank that's when I started looking online. This is some really sick stuff these people are doing in the trash it goes
Serenz
June 01, 2020
I recieved a text fro mschrader22, a gmail acct, With a picture text for Malley's Chocolate auto wrap. Make $400 a week. They would put a 3m vinyl on both sides of vehicle/boat/bicycle. Send them my full name, address, model of vehicle/boat/bicycle, Occupation & phone number so they can send checks. I laughed when I read it. Have no idea how they got my phone number. Never even heard of Malley's Chocolate. I Googled it and saw this about car wrap scams.
Concerned Parent
June 04, 2020
My son just received a large check to drive around with an Aquafina decal. The envelope was addressed from Lowes. Something that is too good to be true, normally is.
illinois
June 05, 2020
I received the check from "Budweiser" for a car wrapping advertisement for $3850. The person has been texting me, asking for a screenshot of the deposit slip. I told him that the bank wants a hard copy. I told him that I would wait for the hard copy in the mail, and then the scammer stopped texting.
Mommabear
June 07, 2020
I was contacted the other day by someone asking me to do this saying they are from Aquafina . I have been in contact with them several times now and want to know how to report their contact information to
Confused&Weary
February 13, 2021

In reply to by Mommabear

So what happened with the Aquafina company? They just contacted me and they are sending a check to my PO Box.
LouK
June 16, 2020
The text I received was actually a JPG !!! [image: Drive to get cash.jpg] I could not copy it, but it begins: "Malley's Chocolate Drive & Earn". Sent to me by heatherlawrence1951
Kittenz96
October 02, 2020

In reply to by Machsm

I just got the same text today...
Anti scammer
March 17, 2021

In reply to by Kittenz96

The exact same thing happened to me on July 14, 2020.
disellerogers
June 09, 2020
I was sent a check and deposited it in a bank and it did not clear and now I have to pay the bank back
Shersall
June 15, 2020
I guess they are at it again sending texts from (812) 525-8628!
Wondering
June 19, 2020
What happens if you deposit the check but don't use the money. Then you find out it was a scam and call the bank to file a claim....do they still charge you?
Ed31
December 12, 2020

In reply to by Wondering

Yes, because you the only one responsible for what happens in your account. You sign a contract and agree to their terms and conditions and you supposed to know where the check is coming from and make sure is a valid check.
Got a text
June 30, 2020
Got a text from arthurjordan137@ on June 19th, 2020 with a jpg attached entitled "Candidates Needed". It said: "Car Marketing Program - MALLEY'S CHOCOLATE is offering all vehicle owners $400 weekly to drive around with their 3M decal vynyl on their truck/van/car/SUV/bike/boat.". It went on to say that it was easily removable & also how easy it was to earn $$ doing this. Obvious grammatical errors were also qevident in the text. All I needed to do was to send the following info: name, addy, "... truck/van/car/SUV/bike/boat model [sic], occupation, and phone number to process your first week payment asap." Incidentally, i get scam texts on a daily basis. Most are asking to buy my house on such and such Lane. I don't own a house at that location and they alwayts have my name wrong (besides the fact I would never sell a house that way). Or, they have some fantastic offer for me. I'm constantly blocking these morons.
Missy 0786453
June 22, 2020
Can scammers get you bank information or any other personal information from your phone number , home address, Car Year Make and Model, and/or email?
scammy
June 23, 2020
“ TOKYO 2021” Car wrap scam. They said I d make 250 plus 50 for gas. They sent me a check for 4grand and wanted me to zelle 2000 to the “specialist” who was going to wrap my car. I never sent the money, thanks to this site and critical thinking.
Donnie Darko.
June 24, 2020
Budweiser sent me a 3,400.00 $ check to wrap my car and told me i would get 500$ a week, i just needed to cash the check in my bank and then gave me a whole story as to why i needed to find my own wrap installer and send them money with a receipt... DON'T DO IT, i almost did and decided to look into it more, seems they are basically scammers with fishing poles. waiting for hungry broke people to bite.. so they can filet your bank account.. whatever you do... DO NOT FALL FOR IT!, if it were legit they would send you a 500 dollar check after they gave you directions on where to go to get your car wrapped and had an assistant contact you by phone and email, giving you further professional instructions on what to do...
Natscattster
June 25, 2020
this is why if something like this happens I don't just deposit i go to the bank and they will run it first to see if its real.
Mary B
June 25, 2020
I'm afraid my friend has just been scammed..everything down to the amounts...uggh
CollegeStudent
June 29, 2020
I was just contacted with a scam by amyshar69@ Offered $400 weekly to represent MALLEY’S CHOCOLATE.
Richee
June 29, 2020
be weary of fritz lay wrap around scheme
Bjazzy
July 01, 2020

In reply to by Richee

Just got my applicant letter and check in the mail today for Frito-Lay! Operation shredder is about to go down!
Dawn
July 12, 2020
This scam is also being used on mobile phones. Same advertisement with a shorten link to cause people to tap on it. They offer $500 weekly and so many wonder if it’s legit when I’m truth it is not
mworthey
July 16, 2020
I was contacted via my work email. The email was attached to an alumni event update that came from our administration office. It said they would pay me to drive with a world cup wrap on my car. I knew better than to click the link but I did respond to the email and was asked for mailing address and vehicle information. I knew it was not legit when they wanted to send me a check and then have ME pay the "specialist" that would come out and put the advertising wrap on my car.
LaceyDon't use…
July 17, 2020
Just received a scam from M&M’s m’s lee jones paid to drive offering me $600/week for 12 weeks.
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