When you bring this to their attention, they will apologize for the oversight and ask you to quickly return the extra funds. The odd thing is that they might send you a cashier’s check for an amount that is higher than your asking price. Scammers might go to an online auction or classified listing site and offer to buy an item for sale, pay for a service in advance, or rent an apartment. Online Auctions, Classified Listing Sites, and Overpayment Scams A fake cashier’s check is sent, which the scammer asks the recipient to cash and then wire back the funds to cover the taxes and fees. The recipient is instructed that in order to “claim" their lottery winnings or inheritance, the recipient must first pay “taxes and fees” before they can receive their prize or money. In these examples, the check recipients are told that they won a lottery-perhaps in a foreign country-or that they are entitled to receive an inheritance. Here are three of the most common scams, and tips on how to detect whether or not you are being scammed. Remember, fraud artists are constantly coming up with new ways to use fraudulent cashier’s or official bank checks in their scams. If it is later determined that the check was counterfeit, you will likely be held responsible for the funds that were provided to the scammer, so it is important that you recognize the signs of a counterfeit check to protect yourself. The scammer might ask you to return the funds in a number of ways: in cash, by writing a personal check, by loading it onto a pre-paid or gift card, or through some electronic means, such as a wire transfer, automated clearing house (ACH) payment, or a person to person (P2P) transaction. Once it is deposited, they ask that you send all or part of the proceeds back to them or to someone else (an accomplice) before the bank where it was deposited tries to clear or process the check for payment and realizes the instrument is fake. Fake checks can look so real that it’s very hard for consumers, or even bank employees, to detect.įake bank checks are typically used in scams where the scammer tries to get you to cash or deposit the check. Advanced graphics and printing technologies allow scammers to easily create fraudulent and hard-to-detect counterfeit checks in a matter of minutes, adding a sense of legitimacy to their scams. Unfortunately, criminals have come to rely on their victim’s sense of “security” provided by cashier’s checks and official bank checks. This means the payment is guaranteed, unless the check is counterfeit, so there are risks to consumers and businesses from these types of paper instruments, as well. Recipients generally prefer one of these checks over a personal check because the financial institution presumably has already collected the funds from the party purchasing the cashier’s checks or official bank checks. Agosto 2019 - PDF Protect yourself from fake check scams with these tips from FDIC Consumer NewsĮven in today’s digital and mobile world where electronic money transfers are common, consumers and businesses may still prefer the assumed security of paper cashier’s checks or official bank checks for large or major payments.
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