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Fake check scammers on Instagram
2 years ago
General
A word of caution to you artists who post your work to Instagram: there are crooks there who are trying to pass counterfeit checks.
Here's a quick rundown on how these scammers behave:
• They offer to hire you for commissions.
• They will show you pictures of family members. These are probably picked from elsewhere on the Web.
• When time comes to talk payment, they will say they can't take PayPal or other third party payment apps. They are restricted to checks drawn off of a business checking account.
• Because this is a business checking account, they will say they cannot write the check for less than some insane amount that flirts with four figures. Usually $950⁰⁰. (What? They never heard of petty cash?)
• What to do with the excess money? The scammer will try to get you to wire money either back to him or a separate accomplice.
The reason this scam works is because federal regulations require your bank to make funds available to you within a couple of days, well before the bank finds out that the check you presented is counterfeit. Once the bank does find out, they will charge your account back for the lost funds.
A fake Instagram account used by a scammer will probably have thousands of followers, but only a tiny number of posts, say, less than 20.
I've been approached twice by would be commissioners trying to get me to take their phony business checks. Be careful out there.
Here's a quick rundown on how these scammers behave:
• They offer to hire you for commissions.
• They will show you pictures of family members. These are probably picked from elsewhere on the Web.
• When time comes to talk payment, they will say they can't take PayPal or other third party payment apps. They are restricted to checks drawn off of a business checking account.
• Because this is a business checking account, they will say they cannot write the check for less than some insane amount that flirts with four figures. Usually $950⁰⁰. (What? They never heard of petty cash?)
• What to do with the excess money? The scammer will try to get you to wire money either back to him or a separate accomplice.
The reason this scam works is because federal regulations require your bank to make funds available to you within a couple of days, well before the bank finds out that the check you presented is counterfeit. Once the bank does find out, they will charge your account back for the lost funds.
A fake Instagram account used by a scammer will probably have thousands of followers, but only a tiny number of posts, say, less than 20.
I've been approached twice by would be commissioners trying to get me to take their phony business checks. Be careful out there.
Derek McDouglas
~koroshi
I've been doing through alot of then, I had to block then.
Hovard
~hovard
Standard check scheme - I've seen versions of that one over the years. They hit the elderly too with a version of it. I'd say for artists, post terms of payment on your site, No Checks.
