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Fake Check Scam

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Fake Check Scam Reports & Reviews (53)

- Hickory, NC, USA
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Greg Owen contacted me thru Air BnB to rent my vacation house in FL. He said his employer would pay for the rental. He sent a check for one month's rent $11,450.95 but it was more than the price I quoted him. I received a certified check from American Endowment Foundation 6700 Darrow Rd, Ste 118, Hudson OH 44236. The check was mailed USPS Priority Mail with a return address of Jimmy Nathan 2500 N Raleigh Blvd, Raleigh NC 27604. I suspect the check is counterfeit. I will take it to the bank it is written from to validate.

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• Jul 16, 2024
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I received this exact same request from the exact same phone number. Was the check valid and did the Airbnb go as planned?

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- Anaheim, CA, USA
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They sent me a $3980 cashier's check and wanted me to deposit it in my bank account and then notify them and then purchase 3 money orders for $1000 each and send them immediately to Jackson Clifford. I would then receive 500 commission plus 150 for gas and expenses.

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- Tuscaloosa, AL, USA
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Letter came had instructions and a check payable to me ********* **** * ** ******* ******** *** *** ****. Confirm you received the check. Go deposit the check at my bank,don't use a check cashing place or Walmart then text him when the funds have cleared. Withdraw money then go to the post office, buy 3 $1000 money orders and a $300. Mail the blank money orders to the address that Jackson will text you after you let him know you have bought the money orders. You keep the left over money as your payment. The letter has a lot of bad Grammer an names didn't start with capital letters. Also It says you will receive a gift card to Walmart. INSTA GO SHOPS/ Mystery Shopper

I don't deposet the check I called the bank that the check was from Community Trust Bank

The rep asked fo the acct #, name on the signature line (can't read it) and the address on the check. The acct # was not one of Community Trust Bank. She stated that the check seems to be fake and that I should not cash the check.

I called Jackson he got mad because I told him his check was fake and he needs to stop scamming ppl. He said I just wanted to steal the money. He claims the the bank is not goin to make the check/funds available until he tells them to. He was mad because I didn't follow the instructions on the paper that came with the check.

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- Hurley, NY, USA
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The Person wanted work done in his house and to have us supervise the work done in house, He paid in advance for the work and that we were to pay the floor people who i dont know they sent a check and asked me to deposit the check into our account and wait for the money to clear. When I went to the bank I asked the girls in the bank to verify the check for me and they did and that is when we found out that the check was a fake.

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- Columbus, OH, USA
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Scammer sent donation in form of check for $4980, then asked for partial refund of $2100.

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- Buffalo, NY, USA
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I got what looks to be a fake check in the mail. This check has my name on it and is for 4,800.00 dollars. I have never heard of this company and it came in a manila envelope, which is not how you get a check sent to you in the mail. All these signs point to it being a scam.

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- Harrison, TN, USA
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Said home owner warranty was expired, sent fake check for $199 called # , sounded like a Indian accent. I started asking questions and he hung up on me. Just had some free time today. Don't normally report these but I don't like to see elderly people getting taken advantage of.

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- Columbia, SC, USA
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I was messaged on Instagram about use of one of my pictures as painting inspiration. I was offered $500 of the $2000 that was going to be paid by the client. After I questioned a lot, I was told that I would be emailed a check for $700. Then I was supposed to send the extra $200 back to an art supply place. I asked if PayPal was an optiom, but was told that the client's bank account was only authorized for checks. I was already really suspicious, but when the check was finally emailed to me I could tell that this was undeniably a scam. It was really pixelated and just looked unbelievably fake. I told the "artist" that I was sorry, but I didn’t feel safe accepting money in this manner. She went on about "trust the process" and "I just want you to be rewarded for your patience and trust" and even "humanity comes first so trust me dear you are 100% safe with me". I tried to be polite in the extremely unlikely case it were not a scammer, but ultimately I denied.

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This happened to me today. Same exactly story.

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They reached out saying they wanted to use a photo of me as a muse for a project for a client. They mentioned that a check would be sent for $3k of which $500 would be for myself and the remaining amount would go towards the artist for supplies and whatnot. They asked for my name, email, and the bank I use. Afterward they sent what I’m assuming is a fake check and asked me to deposit it. I have not and will not try to deposit the check or send them any kind of screenshot. I’m guessing they want me to deposit the check and send the excess back but I will not comply.

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Scammer requested I send them photos to their email address, [email protected] after they on Poshmark site & expressed interest in a bracelet I posted to sell. They contacted me by email that they found I’m assuming on Poshmark. They were interested In buying via outside transaction out of platform site of Poshmark. Further instructions were sent to me plus a check for $1950 that they wanted me to deposit via ATM to my checking account. They wanted to know my phone #, bank name.

See attachments below

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- Auxvasse, MO, USA
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I received a check in the mail on yesterday in a UPS priority envelope. They asked me to deposit the check of $2,980 to receive $700 a week and advertise Starbucks by a sticker being placed on my car. I was instructed to text a picture of my deposit slip once I was done. I did not take it to the bank, but found the situation to be really suspicious. If I were to text a picture of my deposit slip the person would have access to my personal information. 

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Hello. I have been a Small business owner for about 2 years and work hard every day like most people going through these difficult times,

About 3 weeks ago, on 06/20, my birthday, I was reached out by a person indicating that they wanted to hire me for a paint job. Gave me measurements and asked for a quote. I work mostly as a subcontractor for a Restoration company in Bradenton FL, and interact daily with their customers who in some cases refer me to their friends/family. So I accepted to send them a quote with the price and a few days later they contacted me back asking for an address. This person, under the name of Jonathan Sutton, asked me if I accepted cashier checks or Quickbooks invoices as a form of payment. I had just moved to a new apartment and got a cashiers check at the local bank branch, so I thought that cashiers checks were guaranteed funds, so I accepted it. He/They overnighted it to me with Fedex ( I have envelope with address and other info ) so I went to bank and deposited. Next day, funds were available so He reached out and asked me to use Zelle to transfer some of the money to the person in charge of getting "supplies and paint" . 1st transfer was for $2000.00, 2nd. for $1500.00 and 3rd for $740.76.

All of this sounded legit, they wanted to make sure everything was ready before their move in.

He asked me for screeshots for every transfer. Since that money was not "mine" , I just wanted to get rid of it so I could show them I wouldnt steal from them. I am very honest person who loves to work with customers , always trying to go above and beyond, but these low lives target people like me. He then asked me to send $1000 more dollars because he 'miscalculated' the amount of money but I stopped him there and told him that I had already " moved " my payment to my savings account, trying to make sure my "part of the money was intact" so I could pay for rent and other debts I have.

Unfortunately, the fraud department at my bank just replied to me saying that they wont be able to help so I will have to pay $4240.76 back to them. Cashier check amount was for $5976.25

Realisticly speaking, I dont even have a dollar saved. My business account is negative for that amount. I am going through a lot of stress because I havent paid rent this month and now a bunch of late fees.

I am not sure what I will do, but more than likely close my business and let them send that amount to collections which will screw me even more. I am a resident working on my credit, like most people to buy a house. I have a daughter almost 4. So more than likely we will have to keep on paying rent and our dream of being homeowner will be postponed until who knows. These people should pay for this, in prison.

I beg for help but I am not sure how far an investigation can get. For now I have to deal with all of this stress that I did not have, just for trying to make some honest extra money.

I am going to provide all the evidence that I have and most importantly spread the word among business owners so that they do not go through this bad experience.

Names, phone numbers and emails used in the scam:

1. Jonathan Sutton ( scammer ) - Phone numbers : +1 (667)326-9066 & +1 (410)260-0258 and email: [email protected]

2. Jenifer Elizabeth Laverrette ( Person who recieved the money via Zelle ) - email: [email protected]

I just want to share this with you and hopefully I will be able to recover working harder but mainly I hope you guys can share this and investigate. I believe in the law and the first step is to report this type of stuff to law enforcement.

I am sorry I didnt do this any earlier but I have been so busy with the jobs I had this week and going to the bank to open a new account, besides dealing with the depression and stress this situation gave me. I have cried in silence in my bathroom so my wife and daughter dont notice it but I am devastated with anger and impotency. I fell for it innocently or stupidly , I shouldve had more malice and asked more questions but I just didnt think outside the box.

There has to be something that can lead to find these people or at least to stop them .

Thank you for your time.

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Thank you so much for posting this. I was contacted by Jonathan Sutton this morning about a painting job. He said he could only send cashiers check. That seemed strange to me. So I googled his email address and your scam alert popped up. I’m sorry you were scammed by this crook. Thank you for informing the public 😇

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- Bechtelsville, PA, USA
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Did not call.. Solicitation was postmarked in Canada. Address on check via Wells Fargo Bank was San Francisco, CA. Letterhead stated Atlanta, GA

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- New York, NY, USA
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About a week ago, a man came up to me. I just got out of the subway, so he pretty much just cornered me and I was caught off guard. He told me he just arrived and he was in need of some help. His bank account was in the negatives and he said he needed someone to help him deposit a money order for him and give him the funds because if he were to deposit it himself, he the deposited money would just go towards paying off the negative balance. I was really weary of him and tried to tell him to go to the bank but he get pressuring me and I felt too scared to say no. He seemed really desperate and genuine, and I’m the type of person who feels bad and wants to help someone (big mistake on my part and I learned my lesson). He basically lead me to a bank and deposited a money order that he had into my account at the ATM. He told me that he did this all the time back home and there was no problem. I did get a message saying that my check was deposited and that the funds were made available, so I thought it was okay. I tried withdrawing the money from the ATM but it kept declining the withdrawal, even after checking off on my end that it wasn’t a “fraud”. So we walked to another bank, and he wouldn’t come in with me because he said that he didn’t want to look at my pin or see my bank info. So I withdrew the funds from a teller. He gave me his phone number so that we can call each other, and the number was legit. After I withdrew the funds, I gave it to him and said goodbye. After about 2-3 days, the check was found altered/fictitious and the bank took the same amount from my account.

He basically told me he just landed and needed some funds. He even had a JFK tag on the duffle he was carrying. He was a college student that was starting the summer semester at a university. He also said he was on scholarship but he didn’t have any livable funds or anything like that. He seemed really friendly and he seemed “scared”. He even told me that he was hesitant to trust people because of where we were and because he was black. He even asked me if he can buy me a drink or to take at least $20 from the amount for my troubles. I didn’t take anything because I thought that he needed all the money. He was also rushing me a lot saying he was on a time crunch and that he needed the money really badly and fast.

He claimed his name was Thomas, and the money order was made to Thomas Lopez. He was a mid 20-30 black male. He wore a red outfit and he had a bandana on. He also had a yellow duffle bag with him.

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- Altavista, VA, USA
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I would make 4100 a month advertising the the business as a marketing director. After receiving a check to cash and deposit to send to the company

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- Saint Petersburg, FL, USA
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I had posted a dining table and 2 chairs for sale on OfferUp (a marketplace for used items). A person name Greg reached out and asked to buy it on behalf of his father. He gave me his email and asked him to email the pictures. The dad emailed me back and asked for my address (for pick-up) and phone number. He then started texting me and laid out a story that movers were going to pick the item from me on the way from moving his items from storage to a new home. He was going to send me an image of a check for $1200 and wanted to me to give $1100 to the movers and offering to trust me. I refused. The check may have initially cleared if deposited through my banking mobile app but then would have likely bounced.

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One part of our business is tree removal in southern Maine. We were approached by phone (text & voice) and email by a person using the name Kenneth Cole (718-952-3997 & [email protected]). He forwarded a picture of a tree at ** ***** **** Bridgton ME 04009 and asked for a proposal to remove the tree on Thursday 2/2. We emailed a proposal to him which he returned signed to us and said that a check would be sent to us. We received the check on Tuesday 2/7 and deposited it on Wednesday 2/8 at his insistence. He then texted & called saying he needed to have $ 3500 back from the check. We told him that we would not be able to refund any money to him until it was 14 days after the deposit. He threaten to have the check "pulled" and not honor the signed proposal. We still said no. On Friday 2/10, the company, Iannelli Construction Co Inc, 9723 Third Ave., NY 11209 & Signature Bank ********** told the check clearing house the check was "disfigured" and cause our bank account into a negative balance.

We were called on Tuesday 2/14 by the home owners at ** ***** ******* ******** ** when Central Maine Power Co went to cover the lines. They didn't know anyone by the name of Kenneth Cole nor had they arranged to have the tree removed.

We normally do not cash checks prior to our work being done but Kenneth was insistent. I have attached the information in a word file but I have other information that this system is not letting me upload.

I am not sure where else to turn to. Please let us know. Thank you

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Received fake check in mail and instructions to purchase gift cards, then send the scratched off card numbers back to them.

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- Opelousas, LA, USA
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I received a check from an unknown company. Having no bank account, no one could cash this check. The bank that issued the check could not give me information. The phone number from the company is disconnected. I'm not sure what to do now.

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- Stockbridge, GA, USA
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Scammer originally came as an average person on Instagram, wanting to "be friends" and talk/have my time in exchange for payment (meaning they will pay me). After agreeing to participate, they "told me a bit about themselves," and I did the same. Eventually, I was sent two fake checks to deposit at two separate times. One worth 1500, and another worth 2000. I was to take a portion of the first check and send the rest.

The money I didn't keep was sent through CashApp, to help the scammer's "relative in another state." The scammer also told me that they didn't use 3rd party apps, so I thought I could help them. The scammer had a person by the name of "Keith C. Hoard." After "transferring" the first couple of hundred, I was able to keep a portion of the money. Then, I was given the second check to transfer more money. At this point, I began to become suspicious and decided to call the whole thing off. The scammer told me that I had to transfer the rest of the $1500 I was sent or get in serious trouble. I did so, still thinking that the money I received was real. I was also told to transfer $2000 the next day. The next day, however, the checks I was given bounced, and I had to cover the fee and pay the bank the 1500 and 2000. I recognized the scam before I did anything with the $2000 I was given, so no harm was done there, but because I "transferred" the $1500, I had to pay all of that back. In the end, the scammer got $1500, I lost $1500, and they blocked me from all forms of contacting them. However, I acquired information on who "Keith C. Hoard" is through Instagram. After multiple attempts, I never got an answer.

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