How to spot and avoid cheque scams

First, let's look at how to understand your balance. When you log on to online or mobile banking, you'll see 2 different balances.

Ledger balance may include cheques that have been deposited but have not yet been cleared for withdrawal. It's for reference only.

Available balance is the amount of money you have in your account that can be withdrawn.

Scammers cash an invalid cheque to their target’s account, giving victims the false impression that they've been paid.

When a cheque is deposited, the ledger balance is updated right away to reflect the cheque amount, even though it hasn't been cleared yet. It usually takes 1 to 2 working days for the cheque to clear and the amount only becomes available upon successful clearance.

Scammers take advantage of this time gap to defraud victims with invalid cheque payments. After seeing an increase in the ledger balance, or being presented with a forged payment proof without checking the available balance, unsuspecting people may deliver goods or pay money. The invalid cheque then fails to clear and they realise they've been scammed.

Learning more about how scammers work can help prevent you from falling into their traps.

Scammers often target sellers on social media or trading platforms. They pretend to be customers and use invalid cheques in exchange for high-value goods.

There are scammers who deposit large sums of money with invalid cheques and ask victims to send back the difference. In this case, the victims deliver goods and pay scammers money, resulting in a double loss.

Some scammers ask victims to buy goods from fake suppliers with a high commission as bait. They pose as schoolteachers or charitable organisations to appear trustworthy, and trick companies into making payments to fake suppliers on their behalf. They deposit invalid cheques to forge payment proofs and take advantage of the clearing time before the cheques bounce. After seeing an increase in their ledger balance, victims pay the fake suppliers with their own money and suffer financial loss.

In some cases, scammers use counterfeit cashier's orders to pay victims. Similar to cheques, it takes 1 to 2 working days for banks to process a cashier's order. Victims may not realise they've been scammed until the counterfeit cashier’s order is returned by the bank.

When collecting payments, always check your available balance, rather than relying on a deposit slip or your ledger balance as proof of transfer. Also, avoid rushing to comply with a request or to pay in advance, even if the potential gain is high.

If you receive a call from someone claiming to be from an organisation or institution, do a thorough background check. Verify their identity with official contact information or directories.

When in doubt, make good use of fraud-fighting resources, such as Scameter or the Scameter+ application, to assess the risk of suspicious numbers, URLs, payment accounts and so on.

HSBC is committed to protecting your financial security. Think you might have come across a cheque scam? Please contact us at:

HSBC Global Private Banking customers: (852) 2233 3033

HSBC Premier Elite customers: (852) 2233 3033

HSBC Premier customers: (852) 2233 3322

Other personal banking customers: (852) 2233 3000