Car Wrap Scam

This is an advertising scheme. Scammers contact individuals claiming they will pay them if they advertise their company name on their car. This is a Car Wrap Scam. They claim individuals can make money weekly by adding marketing decals to your car and driving around with your car being a mobile billboard. They then send an “upfront payment” to in the form of a check which will include a weekly salary and funds to complete the car advertisement. Recipients are instructed to cash the check immediately if possible or deposit the check into their bank account and withdraw the amount within 24 hours; keep the weekly salary amount plus a small “run around’ fee and deposit the remainder into the “graphic agency account”.

This is a scam. The check is a bogus check and once money is deposited into the “graphic agency account” the money is gone and you are on the hook to pay back the funds for the bogus check.  This is simply a twist on the fake check scam that has been around for years. Scammers place ads or send mass emails attracting people that wish to make extra money. They instruct you to deposit the check which is made out for more than the amount you are to be paid and after you take your share you forward the rest to a specific account, by wire transfer, or onto a prepaid debit card. By the time you find out the check is fake; the scammers are no longer around and very rarely can be found.

Below are some red flags to look out for:

• If you’re urged to wire money that’s almost surely a telltale sign that it’s a scam.


• Never send money to someone you don’t know


• Don’t deposit a check from someone you don’t know and then wire money back.


• Ignore any requests to provide your personal or financial information.


• If an offer is legitimate, they would not ask you to wire them any money to get paid.


• If you decide to deposit a check wait on your bank to clear the check before you withdraw any funds.