Am I accidentally involving myself in some kind of scam?

Wait until you receive an email from the verified email address of the company you deal with requesting the overpayment. Then request an email confirmation of the bank and sort code with an attached company letterhead with a company stamp. Only then ask your bank to refund it. Tell your contact that 'policy' means it has to be done that way and just keep repeating the same.

Suss as fuck.

Return tne amount iwing to the original account and say that the bank blah blah.

Then ...

Send the bank an email recapping the situation and explaining indetail what they said and what you've done. Arse covered. You could also contact tbe company. Send an ambiguous email detailing the return of funds and quite the conversation and say with whom you had it.

I would deffo send a similar email to my acvountant should the faecum hit the fan. It may make you look like a fuss pot, better that than a convict.

It won't happen again after that.

@WalkingThroughTreacle hits the nail the head.
do nothing right now. Wait until funds have cleared twice into your bank before instructing them to return that payment to the sender.
Stop responding to texts. State all communications must be via email henceforth and block his no.

Email the client direct and ask what is going on.

My advice is to ignore his requests outright from now on.

I work in financial services.

If the overpayment is a genuine error, the accounts department will catch up at month end and formally write to you.

To be on the safe side, I’d also be inclined to change your online banking passwords and give your bank a call just in case there are any unusual withdrawals instructed using your account details.

Trust your gut! And worst case - their error - they chase!

I assume this person is the owner of the busimess??? If so not scammer but tax dodger.

You need to refund back through your bank but maybe do it once youve done the work...

@SlimeSuspect just tell him you don’t get involved in finance stuff but the bank will reverse any duplicate payment or pay it back to the originating account. End of discussion.

Sounds scammy to me

It sounds perhaps like your clients banking and phone has been hacked? That's why "he" doesn't want to move to email.

Maybe the scammer has set up a fake PayPal account. You send money there and the scammer wins and your client loses out as their account has had payment go twice but no trail to get it back or go to fraud/police as you are doing the dirty work.

Absolutely scammer.

Money laundering or tax evasion

Your bank and PayPal have both told you not to do what he is requesting.

Any thoughts on what might be going on here, and how I should proceed?
Yes, my thoughts are that you should listen to what your bank and PayPal have told you

Don’t even know why you’re asking, if your bank and PayPal have advised you not to do it.

Of course it’s a scam.

Yep, screams scam. You'll be laundering money for them somehow, and there will be another and similar mishap or problem soon.

Have you spoken to this "client" through an email address or phone number you can find elsewhere - anything you've already used other than this phone number?

Tell your client that the money can only go back to the account that it came from.

Shops and other business never refund to a different account.

Yes screams scam/money laundering
You're always taught to send money back to same account it came from

I'm not an expert but this sounds like money laundering to me. It should go back to the account or came from.

If you’ve spoken to him in person (so it is really him) and it is his own business, it’s unlikely to be a scam because he would get caught… More likely to be a tax fiddle IMO.

Yes - this. Be careful and make sure funds have definitely cleared, speak to your bank. DH had something similar where somebody booked onto a training course he provides and then said they’d paid twice accidentally and could he refund. When he sent the query through to accounts, they checked with the bank and the two payments hadn’t actually gone through yet so they’d have lost thousands if the refund had been issued.

We have a small business and sometimes get duplicate payments....we will only ever pay back to the account it came from . It sounds like he is fraudulently trying to scam his corp taxes/VAT or steal from his business . I don't think he is trying to scam you but I certainly wouldn't pay it into a PayPal account. If it sounds dodgy it probably is.

I had a variation on this one.

A scammer told me they had overpaid me a sum and when I checked my bank account it was indeed there.

BUT what the scammer had done was transfer the ‘overpayment’ from my own savings account into my current account and was hoping that I would just send it back without checking. Please be very, very careful. If necessary, keep them waiting whilst you do a thorough investigation before you move any money as there’s a strong chance you’ll never see it again.

As per your bank and PayPal advice, just don't do it. It's dodgy as hell. Either money laundering, insider fraud or business email ccompromise.

First thing is, do not rush to do anything, no matter how much pressure they apply. Second, only ever return funds to the account they originated from, but wait until you are absolutely clear the original transactions have cleared and cannot be recalled/reversed/cancelled. Third, if there is any doubt that the person communicating with you is legitimate then reach out to someone more senior at the organisation and by a different means (not email in this case).

Just hold your ground. Say you don't have PayPal and will transfer back to the business if he gives the details.

He is trying to steal from his business. Send a cheque to the business name.

Scam or he is trying to defraud the tax man. How big is the company you are dealing with?