A scam story: Secret shopping and fake checks

Scammers need a good story to get to your wallet. Once they find one that works, they use it again and again. One of their old favorites brings together fake checks and secret shopping, and we’ve been hearing a lot about it lately.

Here’s how it starts. You get a check in the mail with a job offer as a secret shopper. You deposit the check and see the funds in your account a few day s later, and the bank even tells you the check has cleared.

Now you’re off to the store you’ve been asked to shop at and report back on, often a Walmart. Your first assignment is to test the in-store money transfer service, like Western Union or MoneyGram, by sending some of the money you deposited. Or you might be told to use the money to buy reloadable cards or gift cards, such as iTunes cards. You’re instructed to send pictures of the cards or to give the numbers on the cards.

Fast forward days or weeks to the unhappy ending. The bank finds out the check you deposited is a fake, which means you’re on the hook for all that money. How does that even happen? Well, banks must make funds from deposited checks available within days, but uncovering a fake check can take weeks. By the time you try to get the money back from the money transfer service, the scammers are long gone, and they’ve taken all the money off the gift cards, too. (By the way, money orders and cashier’s checks can be faked, too.)

The moral of the story? If anyone ever asks you to deposit a check and then wire or send money in any way, you can bet it’s a scam. No matter what they tell you.

Want to avoid the latest rip-offs? Sign up for free scam alerts from the FTC at FTC.gov/Scams .

Read Our Privacy Act Statement

It is your choice whether to submit a comment. If you do, you must create a user name, or we will not post your comment. The Federal Trade Commission Act authorizes this information collection for purposes of managing online comments. Comments and user names are part of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) public records system, and user names also are part of the FTC’s computer user records system. We may routinely use these records as described in the FTC’s Privacy Act system notices. For more information on how the FTC handles information that we collect, please read our privacy policy.

Read Our Comment Policy

The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.

• We won’t post off-topic comments, repeated identical comments, or comments that include sales pitches or promotions.
• We won’t post comments that include vulgar messages, personal attacks by name, or offensive terms that target specific people or groups.
• We won’t post threats, defamatory statements, or suggestions or encouragement of illegal activity.
• We won’t post comments that include personal information, like Social Security numbers, account numbers, home addresses, and email addresses. To file a detailed report about a scam, go to ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

We don't edit comments to remove objectionable content, so please ensure that your comment contains none of the above. The comments posted on this blog become part of the public domain. To protect your privacy and the privacy of other people, please do not include personal information. Opinions in comments that appear in this blog belong to the individuals who expressed them. They do not belong to or represent views of the Federal Trade Commission.

I recently received a check for over $2600 check/secret shopper. I did not do anything with the check. The bank in Washington State

In reply to I recently received a check by jkatz5303

I received a check from a bank in Texas. I didn't do anything with the check either. The only way I would have considered cashing the check is if the bank that the check was written on was in my area and I could cash the check at that bank

Even is it is a local bank, it may still be a fake check. Often banks in one State own banks in other States. If anyone sends you money out of the blue and asks you to send MoneyGrams, it is a scam!

I just received a $4600 check and they asked to deposit to my account and Text a James Smith (707)653-3012 confirming that I deposited the check into my checking account. Then withdraw $4000 cash and go to a local Walmart or two and purchase 8 Walmart Gift cards. Then exit store and scratch off gift card backs and take pictures of all individual gift card backs and receipt and send pictures through text to James Smith. I will be sending all info to fraud department.

In reply to I just received a $4600 check by RRTorres1951

Omg, I just fell for this. Please someone tell me what to do. I’m unemployed and wanted to make extra money!! Please someone help me!

In reply to Omg, I just fell for this. by Dumb me

In reply to I just got taken as well. by Thomas

Hey Thomas, This just happened to me today. I did NOT touch the money. Left it in my account and when the check was returned from Fulton Bank(on the fake cashiers check) my bank was able to take the money back right away.

In reply to Hey Thomas, by DON'T FALL FOR…

Thank you for sharing this story! I just received a check for 2,350.00. I deposited the check and had a terrible feeling. I reported it to the FTC and will be calling the bank in the morning to notify them. So, in your experience since you didn’t touch the money the bank wasn’t owed. Did the scammers continue to communicate with you?

In reply to Thank you for sharing this by Gretch11

I just received a check with the amount of $2600. I have received this kind of mail before so I am going to have some fun with them. lol I am texting with them now, I have received an address so I am going to send them a letter and that the Feds have been contacted.. They have been blowing up my phone all morning about when am I going to FedEx to send the blank money orders totalling $2000. they will be waiting for it

This is still going on. I just received my check for $3450.00, via FedEx overnight. I was shopping on Walmarts official site a few days ago and asked if I would like to be a shopper, I agreed. I was told I would receive $350.00. my instructions are to buy 2 iphone Maxi Phones with 512 GB. The check is a cashier's check out of Pasadena, CA but the company who sent the check was Marsh Electronics Inc from Greenville, WI. They asked to go to Walmart or Apple store. Company phone number is 920-757-0808. Texting was to a person named Jonathan number is 347-343-3468. I wish I could post pics of all documents. I hope this helps somebody not get scammed. Its dispicable people are doing this during these times.

It is so heartless what these criminals are doing to scam people during this critical time. I received a friendly message from a known contact on linked Inc. She stated that she has signed up for over 5 months now and making extra cash. The link was attached. The message was very convincing and knowing that this friend is always telling me about new initiatives, I immediately signed up with the intention of reaching out to her. I contacted my friend bright and early the next day and she said that many of her contacts have been calling her and that she has no affiliation with this company. Her linked Inc account was hacked. The offer was too good to be true so I had my own suspicion. $1500 base salary each month and $350 commission for each assignment. Hmm.. definitely something wrong. Whether you work or not you still get $1500. Crazy.. I decided to go along with the scam to see where it would go.. I got an email stating my check of $1870.30 has been sent priority mail. Attached to the email was the assignment. To deposit check immediately and it will clear within 24-48 hrs. Then to proceed to purchase some gift cards and then to send it to them by way of taking pics. I emailed Kim and told her that she is evil, her acts are cruel and to refrain from communicating with me etc. I further stated that I have reported her to the authorities. I plan to take package to the police upon receiving it. Please be aware people.. these scammers use known people to send you the invite. Don’t get caught up. No company is giving away free money.. time is hard financially for many during this pandemic but don’t be tempted. You will end up losing more and also getting black listed by banks, which prevents you from opening accounts. Please share with friends and familys. Don’t be a sucker for this evil plot.

Wow I just got the same letter from the same person for the same thing!! I haven’t done anything yet I was wondering how truthful it was. Glad I found this website!