


Here are ways to try to get your money back, depending on how you paid a scammer. What To Do If You Sent Money to a Scammer


But that’s not how legitimate sweepstakes work - and you’ll be out any money you send. They tell you to send them money to cover taxes, shipping and handling charges, or processing fees. A sweepstakes says you’ve won and gives you a check. But it’s a scam, the installers aren’t real, and now your money is gone. The company tells you to deposit a check and then send money to decal installers. You respond to an offer for car wrap advertising. But once you do, the money is gone and the so-called “employer” can disappear, too. You get a check with instructions to deposit it in a personal bank account and wire some of the money to someone else. They tell you that your first assignment is to evaluate a retailer that sells gift cards, money orders, or a wire transfer service like Western Union or MoneyGram. Scammers pretend to hire you as a mystery shopper. Lots of scammers use fake checks to get your money. They might say they need you to cover taxes or fees for a prize, to buy supplies for a job, to send back money they overpaid, or something else. They always have a good story to explain why you can’t keep all the money. They tell you to send some of the money back to them or to another person. It’s usually for more than they owe you, and it’s sometimes for several thousand dollars. In a fake check scam, a person you don’t know asks you to deposit a check. What To Do If You Sent Money to a Scammer.Here’s what to know about fake check scams. Identity Theft and Online Security Show/hide Identity Theft and Online Security menu itemsįake checks might look like business or personal checks, cashier’s checks, money orders, or a check delivered electronically.Unwanted Calls, Emails, and Texts Show/hide Unwanted Calls, Emails, and Texts menu items.Money-Making Opportunities and Investments.Jobs and Making Money Show/hide Jobs and Making Money menu items.Credit, Loans, and Debt Show/hide Credit, Loans, and Debt menu items.Shopping and Donating Show/hide Shopping and Donating menu items.Hybrid businesses can show their storefront address, set their hours for when they're staffed at that address, and designate a service area.For example, a dine-in restaurant that also delivers food.If your business doesn’t have permanent on-site signage, it's not eligible as a storefront and should be listed as a service-area business. Hybrid business: A business that serves customers at their business address, but also directly visits or delivers to customers.Service-area businesses can only create one profile for the metropolitan area that they serve.For example, businesses like cleaning services or plumbers.Service-area business: A business that visits or delivers to customers directly, but doesn’t serve customers at their business address.To use a service area, your business must be one of the following business types: Leave the "business location" field blank. Important: If you don't serve customers at your business address, do not enter an address under the "Info" tab in Business Profile Manager. When you list your service area, it lets customers know the geographic area where you can provide your products and services.
