The Paycheck Overpayment Fraud

The "paycheck" isn't real money yet. It's a bad check or a payment from a stolen account, and your bank will reverse it in a few days. The money you send back, though, is yours, and it's gone for good.

Real payroll departments fix overpayments through payroll: they adjust the next check or use a formal repayment process. No employer on earth collects money back through Zelle, gift cards, or wire the same day.

• A brand-new job you got with little or no interview.
• The overpayment appears before you've done meaningful work.
• Repayment demanded the same day, through a payment app.
• The refund must go to a different name or account than the employer's.
• The paycheck arrived as a check to deposit rather than normal payroll.

Obligation. It feels like their money in your account, so returning it feels honest. The clock they add stops you from waiting for the deposit to clear, which is the one thing that would expose it.

• Never send money back through Zelle, wire, gift cards, or crypto.
• Wait for the deposit to fully clear; a reversed payment answers the question.
• Contact the company through an independently found number, not the email.
• Tell your bank what happened before moving anything.
• Stop doing "work" for them; the job was the costume.