# Your new employer sent a check. That is not proof of a job.

An equipment allowance can become a request to send real money back before a fake check is discovered.

[Canonical HTML page](https://nosecrets.app/en/stories/remote-job-fake-equipment-check)

Published by: [No Secrets Research](https://nosecrets.app/en/about#methodology)
Added: 2026-10-20
Topic: Work & careers

## Scope and context

Applies to: US banking context · remote job seekers
Time context: Documented FTC scam guidance
Sources checked: 2026-10-20

The warning concerns the check-plus-money-transfer pattern. A remote interview or an equipment allowance alone does not prove fraud.

## The equipment pretext

The FTC documents impersonated employers conducting interviews, then sending a check for equipment. The amount exceeds the supposed cost, and the applicant is told to send the remainder elsewhere. The recruiting process can look substantial before the money request appears.

[1: FTC](https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2022/05/want-work-home-spot-scams-first)

## Available funds are not final verification

A bank may make deposited funds available before discovering that a check is fake. When it is rejected, the person who deposited it can owe the bank money already spent or transferred.

[2: FTC](https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-spot-avoid-and-report-fake-check-scams)

## Verify outside the conversation

Find the employer’s official contact independently and confirm the vacancy and equipment process. If you have already deposited a suspicious check, contact your bank promptly and explain the situation before moving the funds.

[1: FTC](https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2022/05/want-work-home-spot-scams-first) · [2: FTC](https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-spot-avoid-and-report-fake-check-scams)

## Sources

1. [Want to work from home? Spot the scams first](https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2022/05/want-work-home-spot-scams-first) — FTC. 2022-05. Documents the equipment-check and return-the-balance scheme.

2. [How To Spot, Avoid, and Report Fake Check Scams](https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-spot-avoid-and-report-fake-check-scams) — FTC. . Explains why funds appearing in an account do not prove a check is good.

## Disclosure

AI-assisted research, writing and translation by No Secrets, using the linked public documents. This is a source summary, not firsthand reporting or an independently audited investigation. No affiliate links are used in this article.

The source-check date is not the event date. Original documents control if a summary differs.