The checks that take two minutes

Stop the clock. Nothing legitimate collapses because you took an hour, and manufactured urgency is the single most reliable indicator there is. Then verify through a channel you found yourself — the institution's published number, never the number in the message.

Look hard at how you are being asked to pay. A bank transfer to a personal account, cryptocurrency, gift cards, or any app that moves money instantly and irreversibly are warning signs in themselves, because they are chosen precisely for being hard to claw back.