Fake check scams take advantage of what we don’t know about how banks handle check deposits. Scammers do know, and they trick people into sending them money before the bank spots the fake. The FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network database shows that people reported more than 27,000 fake check scams in 2019, with reported losses topping $28 million dollars.1 And the data suggest that fake check scams disproportionately harm young adults – especially people in their twenties.
Scammers have various fake check storylines, and job and income opportunities top the list. Last year, about 50% of people who reported a fake check scam to the FTC said they were offered a job or some other way to earn money.2 Nearly half of those were fake mystery shopping jobs, and many others were phony car-wrap advertising opportunities. In another 18% of the reports, people said they got a fake check as payment for something they were selling online.