In the overpayment scam, your "new employer" sends you a check — often for more than expected — to buy home-office equipment, pay a vendor, or set up your workspace. You're told to deposit it, keep your portion, and send the rest to a third party. It feels like the company is being generous. In reality, you're laundering a fraudulent instrument, and you'll be left owing the bank every dollar.
The trap exploits a gap in how banking works: your bank may make funds "available" within a day or two, but the check itself can take a week or more to truly clear. Scammers race you to wire real money out before the fake check bounces back.
How the deposit-and-wire trap works
You're hired quickly, then handed a task involving money movement. A check or "digital deposit" arrives for, say, $2,800. You're told to deposit it, keep $1,600 as pay or reimbursement, and Zelle or wire $1,200 to an "equipment vendor" or "the company's supplier." Your bank shows the funds as available, so you send the wire.
Days later, the original check is identified as counterfeit and reversed. The $1,200 you wired is real money you now owe the bank, plus fees. The scammer has your cash and is untraceable.
Common cover stories
The overpayment is always wrapped in a plausible errand so the money movement seems routine.
- "We overpaid for your equipment — please send the difference back to our vendor."
- "Deposit this check, buy supplies from our approved list, and forward the rest."
- "Here's an advance; pay the software licensing fee and keep the remainder."
- Personal-assistant "first task": buy gift cards or pay a vendor with company funds.
The one rule that defeats it
Money should never round-trip through your personal account on behalf of an employer you just met. A real company pays its own vendors directly through accounts payable. If your first "job duty" is to deposit a check and send part of it elsewhere, it is a scam every single time — no exceptions.
Red flags to remember
- You're sent a check or "deposit" before doing any real work
- You're asked to wire, Zelle, or send back a portion of the funds
- The check is for more than expected ("we overpaid")
- Urgency to send money before the check "clears"
- Payment forwarded to a "vendor" or third party you can't verify
What to do if you're targeted
- 1Do not deposit the check, and never wire money back.
- 2If you already deposited it, do not spend or forward any funds — contact your bank and explain.
- 3Keep the check and all messages as evidence.
- 4Report to the FTC (ReportFraud.ftc.gov) and, for mailed checks, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
- 5Report the fraudulent employer to the job platform.
Frequently asked questions
My bank made the funds available. Doesn't that mean the check cleared?
No. "Available" is not the same as "cleared." Banks are required to make funds available quickly, but a check can be discovered as fraudulent and reversed days or weeks later — and you're liable for money you withdrew or wired.
Why would a company send me money before I start?
Legitimate companies don't. They pay vendors directly and reimburse pre-approved expenses after you've started and submitted receipts. Any pre-start check tied to sending money onward is a scam.