Fake payments and overpayments when selling a project car

Stop a transaction if a supposed buyer sends a check for too much and asks you to return the difference. The FTC's warning for online car sellers describes exactly that pattern. A convincing story about a remote buyer does not make the refund legitimate.

A project car may need storage, transport, loose-parts collection, and several people at handover. Agree who handles each task before payment. Keep any request to send money onward separate from the buyer's promise to purchase your car.

Money appearing is not the same as a genuine check

The FTC's fake-check guide explains that fake checks can resemble personal checks, business checks, cashier's checks, or money orders. A bank can make deposited funds available before discovering that the check is fraudulent. Discovery can take weeks, and the bank can take the money back.

Do not treat an available balance, an elapsed number of days, or the word “cleared” as proof that the check is genuine. Ask your bank what it has established about the particular transaction and what risks remain. No payment method should be treated as universally free of fraud or reversal risk.

The FTC guidance here is US consumer guidance. Banking arrangements and remedies depend on the institution, payment method, and country. This article does not set a universal release deadline.

Use this scenario decision table

These are hypothetical seller situations, not reports of transactions on DNF. Work down the table before agreeing to a refund or pickup.

The overpayment responses follow the FTC's car-seller warning. The FTC also documents fake payment notifications, bogus refund requests, and verification-code scams. Checking your own account can expose a fabricated notification; it does not turn a genuine-looking entry into a promise of final payment.

Prepare the bank conversation before collection

Use a contact route you already know for your bank or payment provider. Keep this question sheet with the vehicle's sale notes:

• Which incoming transaction are we discussing, and what status does it have?
• Is the displayed amount merely available to use, and what further checks remain?
• What fraud, return, dispute, or reversal risks apply to this payment method?
• If an alleged overpayment or duplicate payment is involved, how should your fraud team handle it?
• What should I preserve, and what should I do if a collection is already booked?

Write down the date, the department contacted, and the advice given. A case reference helps you explain the same issue to the next person. Do not publish account numbers or financial screenshots in the listing.

You can tell a buyer: “Collection is paused while I speak to my payment provider. I will not forward an overpayment or use your message as payment confirmation.” That is a hypothetical response you can adapt, not a claim that the transaction has been resolved.

Understand what DNF's acceptance step does

As described in How DNF works, accepting an offer marks the listing sale pending. Contact details are released once any required platform fees on both sides are paid. You then arrange the viewing, paperwork, payment, and pickup directly. Acceptance is not confirmation that the buyer has paid the vehicle price.

DNF's trust guidance states that DNF does not take payment for vehicles or hold sale money. Treat a message claiming otherwise as a reason to stop and report it. The existing US owner-purchase guide covers the buyer's wider paperwork and meeting checks; this worksheet addresses the seller's payment decisions.

If you have already acted

Contact the bank or payment company promptly and explain the suspected fraud, including any money you sent onward. The FTC's recovery guidance sets out who to contact for different payment types; recovery is not assured. US reports can be made through ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Keep the listing reference, messages, transaction references, and collection arrangements together. Report the DNF conversation through its reporting controls. Resume a sale only after dealing with the specific uncertainty, rather than replacing it with another promise. When preparing a legitimate sale, use the vehicle inventory and listing form alongside your own payment and handover plan.

Next questions

Before agreeing to a deposit, put the payment and refund questions in writing.