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  Greg Collier 9:00 am on February 18, 2022 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: check scam ( 89 ), fake check ( 56 ), OfferUp ( 23 ), online marketplace ( 11 ), overpayment scam, Scams ( 1,723 )   

  The oldest scam still plaguing online sellers 

  

  By Greg Collier

  It’s almost hard to believe that online marketplaces have been around for over 20 years. Geebo.com itself has been around since 1999. However, in the past two decades, there’s been a scam targeting online sellers that just won’t seem to go away. I’m referring to the fake check scam, which is also known as the overpayment scam.

  This is when an online seller is paid more than the amount they’re asking for, usually by a check. The supposed buyer will typically give some excuse as to why they overpaid. This can be anything from they accidentally wrote the amount on the check to paying for special shipping. In all cases, the buyer will ask for the difference back from the seller. After the seller deposits the check in their bank account and sends the difference back to the buyer, the seller’s bank discovers the buyer’s check is either fraudulent or stolen. The seller is then held responsible by their bank for the full amount of the check, plus any associated penalty fees. Meanwhile, the buyer makes off with whatever money the seller sent them.

  This recently happened to a man in the Phoenix area. He was selling an old couch on marketplace app OfferUp. He was only selling the couch for $300 but received a check for close to $1700. The man was instructed to keep $300 for the couch but send the remainder to a moving company for shipping. The man deposited the check through his banking app and sent the difference to the mover’s through online payment app Zelle. The movers turned out to just be another part of the scam. This all took place before the man’s bank discovered the check was counterfeit.

  Longtime online sellers are well aware of this scam, but new sellers are entering the market every day. The scammers are depending on the new people who aren’t sure what to look for when it comes to scams. They don’t need to fool every online seller, just a few to make the scam highly profitable.

  If you’re selling something online, and you receive a payment more than the asking amount, do not allow that payment to go into your bank account. Both checks and electronic transfers can turn out to be fraudulent. If the payment does make it into your bank account for some reason, instruct the buyer to reverse the payment. Whatever you do, make sure the money isn’t spent from your account. If you use a payment app like Cash App or Venmo, again, instruct the buyer to reverse the payment. Do not just return the payment.

   

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  Greg Collier 8:00 am on September 8, 2021 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: accidental deposit, accidental payment ( 2 ), Cash App ( 44 ), deposit scam, overpayment scam, payment app ( 20 ), Scams ( 1,723 ), venmo ( 31 ), Zelle ( 75 )   

  There’s nothing accidental about these payments 

  

  By Greg Collier

  Last week, we posted about a scam that was affecting Venmo users. In that scam, scammers were posing as friends of the Venmo account holder and asking for money. But what do you do if a stranger sends you money that you didn’t ask for and does it through a payment app? The Better Business Bureau has issued a warning about an accidental payment scam that’s been affecting users of payment apps like Zelle, Venmo, Cash App and others.

  In what’s being called the accidental payment or accidental deposit scam, the victim receives a substantial payment from someone they don’t know. That payment is then followed up by a message from the person who sent the money, saying they sent that payment accidentally, and could you please send it back? Whatever you do at this point, do not send the money back like you would a regular payment.

  According to the BBB, the money that was sent to you was done using a stolen credit card. If you send the money back like a regular payment, you’ll be responsible for that money once it’s discovered the credit card is stolen.

  Instead, you should tell the sender to cancel the payment, which can be done on most of the popular payment apps. If they refuse or try to pressure you into sending it back, it’s more than likely a scam. Also, don’t spend the money that you receive from the scammer, or you’ll be held liable for that money.

  While many of the scammers are finding their victims randomly, others are finding them through social media. In order to prevent receiving phony payments like this, it’s best to keep your account names off of social media. While you may think it’s just a quick post between friends, it can be picked up quickly by scam artists.

   
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  Greg Collier 8:00 am on April 9, 2021 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: check scam ( 89 ), overpayment scam, photographers, Scams ( 1,723 ), texas ( 23 )   

  How a Texas photography scam affects you 

  

  By Greg Collier

  It seems that scam artists are targeting wedding photographers in North Texas with a familiar ploy. The scammers are posing as wedding parties who are booking the photographer for a session. The scammers then send a check that’s more than the amount the photographer is asking. The scammers tell the photographer that the check was in the wrong amount and that the photographer should just deposit the check and send back the difference.

  Long-time readers may recognize this as the fake check or overpayment scam. If any photographers have deposited these checks, they may find their bank accounts a lot lighter. Banks usually don’t receive notice that the checks are fake for a couple of days. By that time the scammers have their money and the victim is stuck with paying off the phony check to their bank plus any fees incurred. At least one photographer asked her bank to research the check before she deposited it, and the check turned out to be fraudulent.

  You’re probably saying to yourself that you’re not a photographer from Texas, so why should you have to worry about this scam? The answer to that is this scam just doesn’t target one industry or one location. If you’re an employee, a business owner, or freelancer you could be targeted in this scam. If your position or business requires you to accept payments, you could be targeted in this scam. That’s not even considering that this scam has a long history of targeting individual consumers who sell items online.

  If you ever receive a check that’s over the amount you’re expecting, either destroy the check or send it back. If a business or business owner were to deposit one of these checks you could see your checks to vendors start bouncing. That could end with your business having a negative reputation with your vendors that could take a while to rebuild.