The Payment Method Scammers Ask For Gives Them Away

The most reliable scam detector in online shopping is not the price, the photos or the seller's story. It is the question "how do you want me to pay?" Consumers reported losing more than $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the agency says more of that money went out through bank transfers and cryptocurrency than through all other payment methods combined.

Honest sellers take payments that can be disputed. Scammers insist on payments that cannot be undone.

The numbers behind the warning

The FTC's figures for 2024 (published March 2025) are worth knowing because they show where the money goes:

Two things stand out. First, the FTC says the number of people reporting fraud stayed nearly flat at 2.6 million, so the jump was not about more reports. Second, the payment types at the top of the loss list are exactly the ones that are hard or impossible to reverse. A card payment can usually be disputed. A crypto transfer cannot be pulled back.

These are reported losses, and they cover every kind of fraud, not only shopping. Still, the pattern carries straight into buying anything secondhand, from an online auction lot to a listing from a stranger.

Five payment requests that should stop you

The FTC's advice on scams lists the ways con artists most often ask for money. If a seller insists on any of these, walk away:

1. Gift cards. A real shop never needs the numbers off the back of a card.
2. Wire transfers. Services like MoneyGram or Western Union are built for sending money to people you know.
3. Payment apps, when the seller says that is the only way you can pay.
4. Cryptocurrency, same rule: if it is the only option, it is a trap.
5. A check you are asked to deposit and then send money back from.

The FTC's online shopping guidance puts it plainly: do not buy from sellers who insist you can only pay with gift cards, wire transfers, a payment app or crypto. The word that matters is insist. A seller who offers several payment options, including a card, is behaving differently from one who narrows you down to one untraceable route.

The fake check trick, step by step

This one catches sellers more than buyers, but it is worth knowing if you ever resell something you bought at a deal price. A "buyer" sends a check for more than the asking price and asks you to send the difference somewhere. The FTC says these checks can look real even to bank staff, and it can take weeks for a bank to find out a check is fake. Meanwhile your balance may show the money as available, which tempts you to act.

When the bank finally reverses the deposit, you owe it back, and the money you sent along is gone. The FTC's rule of thumb: do not rely on money from a check unless you know and trust the person, and never take a check for more than the selling price.

Use your card, and know your window

The FTC says paying by credit card gives you the strongest protection when something goes wrong. If you are charged twice, billed for something that never arrived, or sent the wrong or a defective item, you can ask your card company to hold off paying while it investigates. The agency says to act quickly: your written dispute should reach the company within 60 days of the first bill showing the error.

One more FTC point that surprises people: seeing "https" and a padlock means the connection is encrypted, but it does not prove the site is honest.

A quick check before you pay anyone

Run through this list in under five minutes:

1. Is there more than one way to pay? One untraceable method only means stop.
2. Is the total clear? Check shipping, handling and tax before you commit.
3. Search the seller's name with "complaint" or "scam." The FTC suggests this, and recommends reading reviews from several places rather than trusting star ratings alone.
4. Read the fine print. The FTC notes that words like "refurbished" or "close-out" can mean less-than-perfect condition, and that deeply discounted brand-name items may be counterfeit or stolen.
5. Know the return rules before you buy: who pays return shipping, how long you have, and whether sale items are treated differently.
6. Is anyone rushing you? Pressure to act immediately is one of the four classic signs of a scam in the FTC's guide.
7. Keep records: the listing, the order details, the messages and your payment statement.

Pair this with the product-side check in our guide to checking recalls before buying secondhand, and you cover both the seller and the item.

What this means around DC, Maryland and Virginia

Secondhand and liquidation shopping is popular across the DMV, and so are meet-ups in parking lots. A few habits help locally: pay through the shop's or platform's own checkout rather than a side arrangement, and be wary of anyone who wants to move the deal to texts and a payment app. At DealsDMV, payment is made through the online checkout by card before pickup, and there is no cash at collection; the details are on our help page. If you are weighing how auction pricing works, our look at where returned products go explains the trail behind a deal, and you can browse live auctions and Buy Now listings any time.

If you already paid the wrong way

Speed matters. The FTC says to contact the company you used: the gift card issuer for gift cards, the transfer service for wires, and the crypto company you sent from. Report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov as well. Reporting does not guarantee a refund, but it feeds the data that helps the FTC spot patterns, and it is the first step if a card dispute is possible.

The bottom line

You cannot always judge a listing by its photos, and a low price can be real or bait. What you can control is the way you pay. Prefer a card, refuse gift cards, wires, crypto and "payment app only" demands, never send money back from a check, and keep your records. The FTC's own numbers show that the payment method is where most of the losses happen.

Know someone who is hunting for deals this season? Send them this one, it might save them a lot more than the price of a gift card.