A Client Overpaid Your Invoice? Check for a Scam Before Refunding

A new client agrees to your $600 quote. They send a check for $2,000, say it was an accounting mistake and ask you to send $1,400 to another account today.

That request deserves a pause. The US Federal Trade Commission describes fake-check scams in which someone sends more than they owe and asks the recipient to return or forward the difference. A similar story can be framed as money for equipment or a supplier.

Why a visible balance can be misleading

For US check deposits, the FTC warns that money can appear available before a fake check is discovered. Detection can take weeks. If you send money onward and the check is rejected, you can be left owing the bank.

In our example, forwarding $1,400 creates a real outgoing payment. If the incoming $2,000 is fake, that outgoing money is at risk, along with any work you already delivered.

This check-specific warning is not a universal timetable for every payment method. Ask your own bank or provider about the transaction and its reversal risk. Waiting an arbitrary number of days does not authenticate a suspicious client.

Use a verification pause

Before acting on an unusual refund request:

1. Check your own account. Open the banking or payment app yourself. Match the actual transaction to the invoice rather than treating an emailed screenshot as your payment record.
2. Contact the provider independently. Use its app, official website or a known support number. Explain the overpayment and the request to move money elsewhere.
3. Verify the client through an established channel. An urgent message is not enough to establish who is giving the instruction.
4. Keep the disputed amount untouched. Ask the provider how a genuine payment error should be resolved before sending money.

Keep the original invoice, transaction reference and messages together. Your record should show the mismatch: $600 billed, $2,000 claimed or received, and a $1,400 refund requested. Do not quietly rewrite the invoice to make those amounts agree.

Watch for changes to payment instructions

A refund request may arrive from a familiar-looking email address. The FBI warns that business email compromise can involve spoofed addresses or compromised conversations. It recommends verifying payment requests and account changes through direct contact, and being wary of pressure to act quickly.

For a freelancer, that can mean a supposed client asking you to refund a different bank account, or a supposed subcontractor suddenly replacing their payment details. Call through a number you already trust or independently obtain. A number included only in the suspicious message is not independent verification.

A reply you can adapt

Thanks for flagging this. I need to verify the transaction with my payment provider before processing a refund. Please arrange any correction through the original payment service. I cannot forward funds to a third party or use replacement payment details from this message.

This gives you a consistent process for both a genuine mistake and a suspicious request. You do not need to resolve the situation under someone else's deadline.

If you already sent money

Contact the bank or service used for the outgoing transfer immediately. Explain that you suspect fraud and ask whether it can stop, recall or reverse the transfer. Recovery is not guaranteed. Preserve messages and transaction details.

For US incidents, report fake-check fraud to the FTC and business email compromise to IC3. Elsewhere, use your local fraud-reporting or law-enforcement channel as well as your provider.

A tidy invoice record makes unusual amounts easier to spot. Verification with the payment provider is still essential when a client asks you to move money you did not expect.

Sources

• FTC: how to spot, avoid and report fake-check scams.
• FBI: business email compromise and payment verification.
• IC3: business email compromise and steps after an incident.

Sources checked on 3 November 2026. The invoice scenario and reply template are illustrations.