Can You Scam a Scammer?

tl;dr - no.

The poorest I have ever been was when I was 18 years old. I had no financial support from my family and only around $2000 USD to my name, most of which going towards monthly rent. It was also one of the hardest years of my life. I was flunking out of some classes, going through a deep depressive spike, contemplating a career switch, and was even extorted by the IRS (a story for another day).

This is where most scammers enter the story. A young, impressionable student desparate for money will fall for the simplest scams. I was almost one of them.

I received an email job posting about an online-only stamp and claim sorting business that was willing to pay $3000 for each sorted bundle. Each group would come in the mail as a bundle and if I was to sort and return them, they would mail me weekly to monthly checks.

To preface, I'd like to think I'm able to see through most scams. This one was like any other: a virtual job requiring minimal effort and an exorbent financial reward. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

I was fairly confident this was a blatant scam but I reasoned to myself that if I never gave them any personally identifiable information, they couldn't steal anything from me. They already had my university email and campus dropbox address, but I never gave them any birthdate, SSN, or credit card information. What could they possibly do?

After I accepted their offer, they emailed me saying "We will send you an initial down payment check that will arrive in a few business days." Sure enough, a check came in the mail a few days later with $3000 addressed to myself. I couldn't believe my eyes. Was this real? Surely it couldn't be that easy, right? I decided to go forward and deposit the check.

As a security measure, I opened a brand new bank account. I never sent them any bank account number, credit card number, SSN, or phone number. What could they even do?

The bank teller ended up saving me. "Stop depositing that check," she told me. "I've seen this before. My daughter got scammed the exact way you were about to get scammed."

What would happen if I were to fully deposit that check, she told me, would be catastrophic. The check I received was what she called a "invalid check", which manipulates the depositing bank's funds to populate an account of their choosing. In other words, when their check gets deposited, the scammer steals $3000 from the bank and I become the scapegoat and must pay back the stolen amount to the bank.

I'm fortunate that the bank teller was able to stop me, but as a result I am now banned from banking with that company. The regional manager told me that it looks really suspicious on paper if the first company bank account you try to open is an attempt to steal money. They wanted to help me but they were forced to close my account and ban me.

Conclusion ¶

What's the moral of the story?

You can't scam a scammer. They are very smart and the most you'll likely do is waste their time. They can additionally scam you without asking for any personally identifying information. Furthermore, with the advent of AI LLMs, scammers can magnify their reach and fake legitimacy and barely raise a finger.

Be vigilant. Avoid job postings that sound almost too perfect. Don't work for companies critically prioritize member recruitment. Don't click on links you don't trust. Most of all, don't send anyone money or personally identifiable information unless you can verify they are exactly who they say they are. As I mentioned above: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.