What is a Micro-Deposit, and How Can it be a Scam?

It’s not groundbreaking news that scammers continue to evolve and develop new ways to try and commit fraud. As someone with a bank account, you have to constantly educate yourself and adapt to scammers’ tactics. A new scam that is emerging is the use of micro-deposits.

What is a micro-deposit?

Before you can protect yourself against this scam, you first need to know what you’re looking for. Micro-deposits have been used across the financial industry, for legitimate reasons – like linking your bank accounts together so you can perform transfers. Micro-deposits are small amounts of money transferred into and out of your account – they are generally a pair of offsetting transactions under $1. When the micro-transactions are transferred into and out of your account, the purpose is to verify that it is a valid account that can accept deposits and withdrawals.

How can you tell if a micro-deposit is a scam?

Once a micro-deposit is verified, the scammer is connected to your account and can withdraw funds via an ACH transfer. If you did not attempt to link your bank account with any other financial accounts, but you see micro-deposits in your transaction history, immediately research the transactions and call your bank.

What should you do if you think someone is trying to scam you?

• Contact your Bank.
• Report the scam to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/.
• Check your bank accounts regularly.

Stay up to date on what fraudsters are doing by visiting the FTC and Coastal’s Fraud Resource websites. Coastal is taking proactive measures to protect our customers, and we encourage you to be vigilant in protecting your personal information! Please get in touch with your Banker if you have any questions.