A buyer “accidentally” pays you too much and asks you to send back the difference. It’s an oldie but goodie, and you end up losing three times over.
Someone loves your painting. Or wants to buy your old couch. Or needs tutoring for their kid. They send a check right away, generous even, except oops, it’s for $2,800 instead of $800. “Could you just send me back the $2,000 difference? And ship the painting to my mover.”
The check clears. The money’s in your account. What could go wrong?
When your bank “makes the funds available,” that’s not the check clearing. It’s the bank lending you the money while it checks. When the check turns out to be fake, the bank takes it all back.
Banks have to let you use deposited money within a few days. Finding out a check is fake can take a couple of weeks. That gap is the whole scam. By the time the check bounces, you’ve already sent the “difference” and shipped the item.
Over the years scammers have made it more convincing with fake cashier’s checks and with payment app transfers from stolen accounts. Same result either way: the bank pulls the money back out of your account.
And here’s the extra twist: the address you shipped to probably wasn’t the criminal’s. It’s often another victim who thinks they have a work-at-home job “receiving packages.” (That’s the fake job offer scam, working the other side.)
Real buyers who overpay by accident are about as common as real lottery wins you didn’t enter. If someone pays you too much, the story is the scam.
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