Is a caller from a tech company offering to refund an overcharge a scam?

The caller claims to be from a software company and says you were overcharged for a subscription renewal. They send an inflated refund to your account using remote access software to 'process the transaction'. You are then told you received too much money by mistake and must return the surplus by gift card or wire transfer. In reality, the 'refund' is a transfer between your own accounts made to look like extra money arrived, or it is a fraudulent credit that will be clawed back. The money you send back is real and gone. Tech companies do not process refunds via remote access software or ask you to return money by gift card.

The illusion at the heart of this scam is built during the remote session. While you watch your own screen, the scammer edits the page's displayed numbers or quietly moves money between your accounts, so a fake overpayment appears with theatrical alarm — often blamed on your 'mistake' during the refund form. The guilt and confusion that follow are engineered to make returning the surplus feel like the honest thing to do.

Remote access is the point of no return. Once granted, the caller may also install software that lets them reconnect later or capture credentials. If a session took place, treat the device as compromised: disconnect it, run security scans or seek technical help, change banking and email passwords from a different device, and review recent transfers with your bank.