The FTC receives thousands of complaints from victims of fake check scams
each year. You receive a check in the mail; it may claim you won some
sort of international lottery (which you never entered). You can cash
the check right away, but all you have to do is pay a small fee for
taxes. You deposit the check, send out the fee, and the check bounces.
Now you are out of the money you sent, and you can’t reach anyone to
claim your prize because it was fake. Sometimes these scams involve fake
secret shopper offers or overpayment for goods, and then they want a
refund. Regardless of how you are caught, if you send them anything, it
will be gone forever.