Overpayment Scams ExamplesDon’t Learn it the Hard Way: Real Scams in the Wild

Overpayment Scams Examples: Case Studies in How Overpayment Fraud Works

You can read definitions all day, but nothing prepares you for a scam quite like seeing it in action.

Fraudsters are surprisingly creative when executing overpayment scams in real life. They often go to great lengths to masquerade themselves as everything from employers to generous benefactors.

To help illustrate, here are a couple of real-world, “ripped-from-the-headlines” examples of overpayment scams targeting victims in the Detroit area:

In 2021, Southfield, MI resident Michael Pugh II was applying to a job listing on Indeed which advertised a remote position. One of the recruiters reached out to Pugh, but instead of offering him a job, they told Pugh to purchase a printer as part of the onboarding process.

In an interview with WXYZ-TV, Pugh II recounted that the fake employer promised that this was a routine practice, and that he’d receive reimbursement via Bitcoin. Pugh grew even more suspicious when he was told that, to receive the money, he’d have to go to a specific Bitcoin ATM to make a withdrawal.

The man would’ve been right to reject the offer. But, scammers often target individuals looking for remote work as victims of overpayment scams specifically because they’re often desperate for work and happy to go along with any offer, no matter how odd the “recruiter’s” requests are.

In 2024, Detroit nonprofit Alternatives for Girls, a women’s shelter in the city, received a $7,000 donation via check from a business called “Michigan Licensing@Regulations.”

Shortly after the nonprofit received the check, they were contacted by the company. The donor claimed that the gift was “accidentally larger than planned and that a portion would need to be returned immediately via wire transfer.”

Upon depositing the check, Alternatives for Girls’ Director of Finance was informed by the organization's financial institution that the check was fraudulent. Luckily, the nonprofit had yet to issue the scammer a refund for the “overpayment,” averting a loss that would have otherwise occurred.

In December 2024, a 95-year-old resident of Baxter County, Arkansas, was targeted in an overpayment scam that nearly cost him $60,000. Scammers contacted the victim claiming he had been overpaid and was at risk of prosecution unless he provided a cash refund immediately.

Law enforcement, working with multiple agencies, set up an undercover sting operation using a “bait house” with a decoy. When 23-year-old Fardin Talah of Brooklyn, New York, arrived to collect what he believed was $60,000 in cash, he was instead handed movie prop money and arrested as he walked away.

Talah was charged with felony conspiracy, fraud, impersonation, and unauthorized use of property. This case was part of a series of three arrests in the same week targeting “money mules” who were picking up cash from elderly victims of overpayment scams.

In September 2023, an elderly woman in Rapid City, South Dakota, lost more than $100,000 to scammers who falsely claimed to be law enforcement officers. The scammers told the victim she had committed a crime and would be arrested unless she paid cash and gold to resolve the non-existent criminal matter. They warned her not to speak about it to anyone.

Over the course of a week, the victim handed over more than $100,000 in cash and gold when scammers came to her home to collect payments. When law enforcement was finally notified that another $95,000 in gold was scheduled for pickup, they conducted an undercover operation and arrested the courier when he arrived.

The perpetrator, who was working with several co-conspirators, was later convicted in federal court. Messages found on the courier's phone showed he was being directed to various locations throughout the United States to collect cash from elderly victims.

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