BBB Scam Alert: No, Better Business Bureau Did Not Send You A Check

Better Business Bureau has received reports from consumers who received a check in the mail for $2,950 with instructions on how to verify the authentication of the check.  The envelope is labeled priority mail 2-day and has a return address of Better Business Bureau as well as other legitimate brands. Inside the envelope are fake checks written from various “businesses.”

You can lose thousands of dollars if you deposit the check and contact these scammers. This scammer is impersonating Better Business Bureau and other legitimate brand names in an attempt to get you to open the package and take action.

According to the BBB Scam Tracker Risk Report, impersonation is a very common tactic used by scammers. Impostor scams come in all shapes and sizes with the same intent – to trick you out of your money and/or personal information.

Fake check scams

Fake checks are simply counterfeited checks, usually copies of business checks from real companies. Three financial documents are commonly involved in fake check fraud: regular checks, cashier’s checks, and money orders. Some appear to be created in the U.S. and Canada, but many are shipped in from overseas and then sent to victims, as pointed out in BBB’s investigative study; Don’t Cash That Check: BBB Study Shows How Fake Check Scams Bait Consumers.

Two things BBB wants you to know and tell your friends about fake check fraud:

Having the funds credited to a bank account does not mean the cashed check is valid.

Federal banking rules require that when someone deposits a check into an account, the bank must make the funds available right away – within a day or two. But the bank also has the right to recover the money from the account holder if the check is counterfeit. It is only when the check is returned to the bank that supposedly issued the check that it is discovered to be bogus.

Cashier’s checks and postal money orders can be forged.

A cashier’s check is a check guaranteed by a bank, drawn on the bank’s funds and signed by a cashier. Cashier’s checks are treated as guaranteed funds because the bank itself, rather than the individual account holder, is responsible for paying the amount of the check. Cashier’s checks are commonly required for real estate and brokerage transactions. If a person deposits a cashier’s check, the person’s bank must credit the account by at least $5000 the next day. The same is true for postal money orders.

What to do if you have deposited a fake check into your account

Notify your bank and the bank that appears to have issued the check.

Where to report this scam

Better Business Bureau at BBB Scam Tracker

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), or call 877-FTC-Help

The Internet Crime Complaint Center, or IC3

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service

Western Union, 1-800-448-1492

MoneyGram, 1-800-926-9400

Green Dot, 1-866-795-7597

Victims who are seniors or other vulnerable adults may be able to obtain help through Adult Protective Services, which has offices in every state and many counties. Find a local office at Elderjustice.gov.

ABOUT BBB SERVING CENTRAL INDIANA: The Better Business Bureau has empowered people to find businesses, brands and charities they can trust for over 110 years. In 2021, people turned to BBB more than 200 million times for BBB Business Profiles on 6.3 million businesses and Charity Reports on 25,000 charities, free at BBB.org. Local, independent BBBs can be found across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, including BBB Serving Central Indiana, which was founded in 1916 and serves 46 counties.