Fake Check Scams Should you wire money to a stranger? U.S. Postal Inspectors hope you say: Absolutely not! The offer may sound like a nice deal, but — as usual — it’s just too good to be true. The check or money order you receive will be counterfeit. And you’ll be out the money. Fake check scams appear in various disguises: You’re overpaid for an item you sold on the Internet and are asked to wire-transfer back the extra dollars. You receive a check with a notice that you’ve won a foreign lottery or sweepstakes. You’re told to deposit the check, representing a portion of your winnings, and wire-transfer $2,000 to $5,000 back “to cover the taxes” so you can collect the rest of your winnings. You receive a work-at-home offer that promises, in return for depositing a money order or check to your bank account, you can keep a percentage of the money after wire-transferring the rest. Someone in a chat room asks you for a favor: Just cash a check and wire-transfer back the money. You see a work-at-home offer online that requires using software to create checks on your computer and mailing the checks to U.S. addresses. In any case, the check or money order you receive for deposit will be a counterfeit. It will be returned to your bank unpaid, and the full amount will be deducted from your account. You are responsible for any check or money order you deposit to your account. If the check or money order turns out to be a counterfeit, or is returned unpaid for any reason, you are fully responsible for the loss. Federal law requires banks to make deposited funds available within 1 to 5 business days. Just because you can withdraw cash from your account soon after depositing a check or money order doesn’t mean the item you deposited is valid. It can be weeks before a check or money order is discovered to be a counterfeit and returned to your bank unpaid. Bank employees may not be able to determine whether an item is invalid. Their job is to process your financial document.