Deposited a "mystery shopper" check, bought the gift cards they asked for, and now the bank has reversed it and I'm $1,800 overdrawn. Do I really have to pay that back?

#1Kel Osborne(Joined Oct 2026 · 2 posts)October 9, 2026, 10:31 pm

I feel so stupid typing this. I applied for a few work from home jobs last month and got an email offering me a mystery shopper role. First assignment: they'd mail me a check for $2,100, I'd deposit it, keep $300 as my pay, and use the rest to buy gift cards at two stores and rate the customer service, then send photos of the card numbers so they could "evaluate the purchase".

The check cleared. Or I thought it cleared, the money was in my account two days later. I did the assignment. A week after that the bank reversed the whole deposit, said the check was counterfeit, and now I'm $1,800 in the hole on an account that has my rent going out of it next week.

Is there any way I don't have to cover that? It wasn't my money and I didn't know. And the "company" has stopped answering.

#2Grace H(Joined Mar 2025 · 31 posts)October 10, 2026, 7:15 am

You're not stupid. You're someone who needed work and was targeted by people who know exactly what job seekers want to hear. Hold on to that.

#3Walt F(Joined Jan 2026 · 17 posts)October 10, 2026, 12:48 pm

Call the gift card companies today, the numbers are on the back of the cards or on their websites. If the cards haven't been spent yet there is sometimes a chance they can freeze them. Slim, but it costs you nothing.

#4David MercerModerator(Joined Jan 2025 · 214 posts)October 11, 2026, 10:20 am

Kel Osborne said:

Is there any way I don't have to cover that?

Kel, I'm going to be straight with you, because I'd rather you heard it here than from a collections letter. In most cases, yes, the person who deposits a check is responsible for it when it's returned as fake, even when they had no idea. "The funds are available" from the bank was about timing, not about the check being good, and that gap is exactly what this scam is built on. I wish banks said that louder.

That doesn't mean there's nothing to do. Ring the bank's branch rather than the general line, explain what happened, and ask what they can offer on the overdraft: a repayment plan, waived fees, holding the account open for your rent. Banks do have discretion on the fees even when they don't have it on the debt. Take the job emails and the gift card receipts with you. Walt's point about the gift card companies is a good one and worth the phone calls today.

Then report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to the FBI's IC3. It feels pointless on the day. It matters later, for the bank and for the record. The site's piece on can you get your money back after a scam goes through what's realistic for each payment method, and job and employment scams has the mystery shopper pattern in detail if you want to understand how they picked you.

Last thing, and I say this as someone who lost a great deal more: you'll probably get messages soon from people offering to get the money back. Don't answer them. And please don't let this stop you looking for real work.

#5Kel Osborne(Joined Oct 2026 · 2 posts)October 14, 2026, 7:05 pm

Two of the gift cards had already been drained within an hour, the third was frozen with $300 still on it, so that's something. Bank branch was kinder than the phone line. They're letting me pay it off over four months and they waived the overdraft fees. Rent went through.

Reported to both. Still feel sick about it but less alone, so thank you.

#6Grace H(Joined Mar 2025 · 31 posts)October 15, 2026, 8:22 am

$300 back and the fees gone is a real result. Well done for walking into the branch. That's the hardest part.

#7David MercerModerator(Joined Jan 2025 · 214 posts)October 18, 2026, 9:40 am

For anyone who lands on this thread mid-scam, the site now has a full write up of how these checks work and the other stories they come wrapped in: fake check and overpayment scams.