House Painting Scam Making Its Rounds in the Neighborhood
A neighbor and friend had a scam experience about a week ago. He’s a professional painter, and he received a message from someone who claimed they got his number when he posted about his services on a neighborhood social media app.
How the Painting Scam Works
It seemed like a normal interaction when the client asked if he could paint 3 rooms. When he said that he could, the client replied asking for a price quote, and wanted him to know that they were out of town and needed the job done before they got back.
They agreed to his price of $1800 and told him that they would need to speak with their movers about delivering some supplies to him. They said they would send the check which would have some extra money in it to pay the movers.
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A few days later he received another message by text saying precisely the same thing that the previous text said about the supplies and check. He said he was very confused, and that it felt like a red flag.
A few days later the painting scam continued when the check arrived in the mail. He said he was shocked and couldn’t believe the amount of the check, $6200. Red flag number two.
After doing some quick research online he learned that this was a popular scam that he had never heard of. His search revealed that scammers are sending these checks in hopes that you pay “the movers” after you cash the check in your account.
However, after a couple days or so the painter learns that the check has bounced and he’s been scammed out of all of that money, about $4400. Not only would he have lost his painting fee, he would have lost the additional cash.
Common sense should alert anyone who is asked to pay another vendor on a client’s behalf. My neighbor prefers to remain anonymous about the painting scam but warns other contractors to beware of a scam like this. As you would expect, he’s very thankful he did the research before cashing the check.
Experts warn that you should always question everything before you put any money or anything of value in jeopardy. Most people don’t fall for a scam like this, but the ones that do make it worth the effort for the scammers.
A Gallup poll shows that “15% in America say they or a household member was a scam victim in the past year.” The study also revealed that those affected most are “lower-income and less-educated adults.”
