With the economy down, many people are looking for a way to make some extra money. There are many companies that are saying they will pay you a certain weekly or monthly amount if you allow them to place a vehicle wrap on your car that advertises a big name product. While this sounds like a great idea, getting paid to drive your vehicle, it is usually a scam. Using vehicle wraps to advertise are a great way for small businesses to get their product exposure to the public. Thousands of people will see it a day, and it can really help a business succeed. However, even though being paid to have this done would be great, you should be weary of scams. 

The scam is usually follows the same protocol. You will receive an email about the opportunity to make some extra cash by just driving your car. Normally, they will say that big companies like Coca-Cola, Monster Energy, or Budweiser will generously pay prospective clients like you. You can also fall to the scam through ads on Craigslist or from websites created to get your information. The websites are cleverly made and will have you fill out an “application” to put you in the running to be chosen to have your vehicle wrapped. They usually offer you the option of a contract that will allow you to remove the wrap after a certain amount of time. Once you agree to their offer, you will be sent a check for a large amount, and that is what gets you into trouble. You are supposed to deposit your check into the bank, keep your pay, and use the remaining money to pay a third party company who will do the vehicle wrapping.

However, after the check is deposited and you wire the money to the vehicle wrapping business, the check will bounce. The original check was never real and will not clear. Now the bank will come after you because of the fake check. This scam has tricked many people because, in theory, this is a great opportunity but is definitely too good to be real.

Most large corporations would not pay everyday people to drive around displaying an ad for their product. They spend millions on advertising and have huge marketing departments. They are very careful about how they image is portrayed and would be unlikely to let someone advertise their brand unsupervised. Vehicle wraps are a great way to gain exposure for your business, but most likely, no one will pay you to do it. Be wary of these too good to be true offers and save yourself the headache that will come with falling for this scam.