Are you looking for ways to earn extra income? You might have come across an appealing offer via text, email, or social media ad: get paid for simply wrapping your car with advertisements and driving as you normally do. These “Car Wrap Programs” often promise attractive weekly payments, sometimes ranging from $600 to $700, for displaying ads of well-known brands, frequently energy drink companies. However, it’s crucial to be aware that many of these seemingly lucrative opportunities are actually scams. Here’s how to identify and steer clear of car wrap scams.
Car wrap scammers frequently target college students and others seeking supplementary income, but their deceptive tactics can victimize anyone. Regardless of your background or how you were contacted, the scam typically unfolds in a similar pattern. If you respond to the initial enticing message, the scammer will quickly send you a check to deposit into your bank account. They will instruct you to use a portion of these funds to pay a supposed “installer” who is responsible for applying the car wrap. Crucially, the scammer will dictate how you should pay this “installer,” often insisting on payment methods like money orders, payments through mobile payment apps, cryptocurrency, or wire transfers. These payment methods are favored by scammers as they are difficult to trace and reverse, allowing them to quickly access your funds.
But what’s really happening behind this enticing offer? This entire process, from start to finish, is a car wrap scam. The check you deposited, which initially appeared legitimate, is actually a fake check. This means that any money you send to the supposed “installer” is coming directly out of your own pocket, not from the fraudulent check.
It’s important to understand how fake check scams work within the banking system. When you deposit a check, banks are legally obligated to make the funds available to you within a few business days. This process is often misinterpreted as the check “clearing.” However, the actual process of verifying the legitimacy of a check can take significantly longer, sometimes weeks. Once the bank discovers that the check is indeed fake, they will reverse the transaction, and you will be held responsible for repaying the bank the amount of the fake check. Meanwhile, the scammer has already absconded with the money you sent to them for the nonexistent “installer.”
Have you encountered a car wrap program offer that seems suspicious or turned out to be a scam? Protect yourself and others by reporting it to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Your report can help the authorities track and combat these scams.
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