Overpayment Scams

AVOID OVERPAYMENT SCAMS!

If someone you do not know claims to have sent you an excess amount of money, and attempts to convince you to refund the difference between the sent amount and the intended amount in the form of a check, wire transfer, money order, store gift card, online payment or otherwise - STOP! THIS IS A SCAM. YOUR MONEY WILL BE LOST.

Overpayment scams typically include some combination of fraudulent payments from a scammer to you the victim and can result in you making a legitimate payment to the scammer.

Here are some typical overpayment scams:

Check Overpayment Scam

The scammer makes an overpayment to you in exchange for goods/services, often in response to an online ad with a fraudulent check.

The scammer claims that the difference between the intended amount and the amount on the fake personal or cashier’s check, is due to customs or shipping.
You are asked to pay back the excess. After you pay it, you discover the check was fake and you lose your money.
The item to be delivered is also lost in the transaction to the scammer.

This scam works due to the time it takes to discover the check is fake.

Online Refund Scam Technical Support Scam

You respond to a call where a scammer pretends to represent either a well-known large company like Amazon or Target or a smaller company offering a service of some kind. The scammer tells you that the company owes you a refund, either for a product you ordered or a service that the company can no longer provide. The scammer asks you to log in to your online banking account or takes over your computer to transfer money from your account.

Never let someone unknown to you connect to your computer with remote access software.

Alert: If you have been a victim of a technical support scam in the past, be cautious of claims for ‘security services’ for the original scam.

Business Payment Account Scam

Be aware of scams when buying and selling in online marketplaces.

If you are selling an item in an online marketplace such as Facebook/Meta. A scammer might offer to buy it using Venmo, Cash App or Zelle.

They ask you to upgrade your account to a business account in order to receive payment
You receive a bogus invoice for a business account upgrade fee so you can receive payment from the scammer.
You do not receive any payment but you have paid for a fraudulent upgrade.