“I own a publication, and I was scammed out of $180 by a writer.”

Angela,

I don’t know if you’ve heard of this happening to other editors and website owners? Has it happened to you? I hire freelance writers for my small publication. Please don’t use my name if you publish this.

A writer submitted an article to me on-spec (I had not hired this person before). It was well-written (I later found out it was written by AI). I put it on my website, and asked how she wanted to be paid the $20. She said online so I sent her the $20.

She emailed me a few minutes later. She told me she had accidentally clicked the wrong button, and sent the $20 back to me, except she accidentally sent me $200. She said she really needed the money and asked if I could send the extra $180 back to her.

I felt sorry for her so I sent her another payment for $180. She thanked me.

A few days later, I checked my account and the $200 she said she accidentally sent to me wasn’t there. I sent her an email and the email bounced back. I knew I’d been scammed.

Is this happening to other editors and publishers?

A –

It hasn’t happened to us (because I’ve been busting scammers for years, so I know their playlists). But, yes, it’s happening to others. And, not just to editors and publishers. Every industry is being affected by this “accidental refund” scam, and many more. And, they have many more tricks in their pockets as well.

I recently saw a news story about a company that received an invoice from one of their “suppliers.” If I remember correctly, it was around $180K. The bookkeeper didn’t realize it was a spoofed invoice, and she paid for it via wire transfer. The invoice was from a scammer, pretending to be the company’s actual regular supplier. Of course, by the time they figured it all out, the money was long gone. The scammers move that money to overseas accounts FAST.

Back to your situation…

If anyone ever says they accidentally clicked the “refund” button (or something similar), login to your account and see if the money has gotten back to you yet. It should show up instantly. If they send you a link to check your account, DO NOT CLICK ON THAT! Only use the link you always use when you check your account. If they send you a screenshot “proving” they sent the money to you, DO NOT TRUST THAT, EITHER! Check YOUR account directly.

If someone tried that trick on me, I’d have taken their article off my website, and immediately filed a complaint with the online payment provider. Unfortunately, scammers will instantly transfer the money to their bank account (and then to another bank account), and will then shut down their account on that payment provider’s platform. (They’ll simply open another one under another fake name later.) Once the money has been received, they immediately move it (often several times), making collecting the money later impossible.

Oh, and many scammers are men who pretend to be women. As humans, we tend to trust women more than men.

Brian had a scammer send a $700 “invoice” to his personal Paypal account. He didn’t pay it. He’d never heard of that person before. She filed a claim with Paypal. Brian knew how the scam worked. By the time she filed a claim with Paypal, insisting she HAD provided those non-existent services, Brian had closed his Paypal account, and driven into town to close his bank account (he only used that one for Paypal). Bizarrely, Paypal actually determined that the woman’s invoice was legitimate, and took the money out of Brian’s Paypal account (it didn’t have any money in it and, when they did that, there was a negative balance). Paypal was then not able to get the money from Brian’s bank account, and he was receiving emails from them about it. He’d already told Paypal it was a scam, so he ignored their subsequent emails.

This is an EXCELLENT article that discusses the “overpayment” scam, and others: Protect Your Small Business from Payment Scams

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