Overpayment scams
By Leslie McFadden • Bankrate.com

This scam comes in several flavors, but the main ingredients never change. The overpayment scam, also called the counterfeit check scam, is one of the most common and ever-evolving cons. Typically, con artists find victims through classified ads and auctions, and offer them payment for anything from goods and services to rental deposits, jobs, vehicles and pets, according to the National White Collar Crime Center. Story continues below ... Counterfeit check scam   Source: Bankrate.com    |    Do's: Don'ts: • Insist on getting paid the correct amount. • Assume a check is valid if it clears. • Report the scam. • Rely on your own detective work to determine the check's validity. • Avoid doing business with anyone who insists you wire excess money elsewhere. • Deposit or cash checks if asked to wire some of the money elsewhere.

The victim is given a counterfeit cashier's check or money order for more than the cost of the advertised item and instructed to cash the check and send the extra money elsewhere, typically using a wire transfer service.

Reasons for the overpayment vary. Scammers may claim it was a mistake, that the excess cash is compensation for the inconvenience of cashing the check or that the money will go to a third party, such as a shipping company hired to transport the item.

Don't believe the excuse provided.

"None of the explanations really make sense," says Susan Grant, vice president for public policy and director of the National Consumers League's Fraud Center. "Certainly they can send money directly to the person who's doing the shipping."

Scammers rely on a cushion of time, as it can take days or weeks before the victim's bank discovers that the check is counterfeit.

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