Bakery caught in counterfeit check scam after ordering 1,000 cookies

As a result, after receiving the check for just over $7,500 in priority mail, she told KABC she went to her bank to verify its legitimacy.

Stern told the media that the bank informed her that if the funds cleared, which they later did, the check was likely legitimate.

So once the money showed up in her account, Stern started buying supplies to fulfill the order.

However, according to KABC, shortly after, the person asked for the order to be cut in half and asked for a 50 percent refund.

“I responded and said, ‘No, there’s no way we’re doing that. I already bought all the ingredients. I already made the dough,” Stern told KABC.

She said the bank assured her she would be protected if she had an invoice and email correspondence about the order.

But KABC reported that the funds were withdrawn from her account the next day.

“They said, ‘Oh, it was cited as a counterfeit check,'” Stern told KABC.

“Essentially what the scammer did was steal another company’s checkbook and write checks to different vendors,” she added.

When Stern contacted the company listed on the check, she learned she was the 15th person that day to report the scam, she told KABC.

Check fraud has been on the rise in recent years.

According to the US Treasury Department, check fraud has increased by 385% since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A joint public advisory by the U.S. Department of Justice and Public Safety Canada said counterfeit check scams always use the same basic scenario.

“Fraudsters send counterfeit checks to potential victims and instruct them to deposit them into their bank account,” it said. “The scammers then ask for part of the money to be returned in cash or by bank transfer.”

It notes that many counterfeit checks are of high quality and “likely to fool even trained bank personnel at first,” and that you should look for signs of alteration on a check and not proceed with a transaction if the buyer insists on overpaying or request a refund.

Stern was eventually able to sell some of the muffins, but was left with a significant amount of leftover ingredients, resulting in a financial loss to her business and an emotional impact on her well-being.

She told KABC the experience left her feeling “disheartened by humanity.”

“I wanted other business owners, and maybe just people in general, to be wary of scams that could happen because they can be really disruptive,” she added.

Business Insider reached out to Stern, but did not immediately hear back.