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You’re looking to make some extra money and you get a text or email, or see an ad on social media: get paid to wrap your car and drive around. And the offers can sound good: $600-700 a week to drive around with an ad for some well-known company (usually an energy drink). Many times, these offers are scams — here’s how to spot them.

Often these scammers target college students looking for a way to make a few extra bucks — but these scammers are not picky. No matter who you are or how a scammer reaches out to you, this scam tends to play out the same way. If you respond to the text, email, or ad, the scammer will send you a check to deposit. They’ll say to use some of that money to pay the “installer” who’ll wrap your car with the ad. The scammer will also tell you how to pay the “installer:” by money order, with a payment app, with cryptocurrency, or by wiring the money — all ways that let them get the money quickly.

So what’s really going on? This is a scam, start to finish. And that check you just deposited? That was fake — which means the money you sent is coming out of your own pocket.

When you deposit a check, it might “clear” because banks are required to make funds available within a few days. But it can take weeks for a bank to figure out that a check is fake. When they do, they’ll reverse the transaction and you’ll be stuck repaying the money to the bank while the scammer has the money you sent them. 

Did you spot a scam like this? Tell the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. 

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Tempted by a car wrap ad promising easy money? Know how to spot a car wrap scam. Picture of a car with "Your Ad Here" text on the side.

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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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  • We won’t post comments that include personal information, like Social Security numbers, account numbers, home addresses, and email addresses. To file a detailed report about a scam, go to ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

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P Senter
April 02, 2024

How can it take a bank weeks to figure out a check is fake? This is 2024, money can be sent in milliseconds and it should be settled very quickly also. If it takes weeks for a back to figure out a check is fake, then the system needs to be reworked.

Joan Robuck
April 02, 2024

I came close to falling for that but did not. Thank the Lord!

Elaine
April 02, 2024

Very timely information. I was recently laid off, so I’m looking for any part time income that won’t interfere with job hunting time. I’ve seen those wrapped cars and wondered how to get in on that. I’ll be very careful now. Thank you.

Denise ray
April 03, 2024

Ya they sent me 2 checks Dr pepper wrap and I deposited into my account and. They closed my bank account cause it was a bad check 5,000 2 of them

Junaid ahmad
April 09, 2024

Yes I tell him FTC

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