Sending or transferring money to another person is simple with today's technology. You only need someone's email address or cell phone number to transfer money to them. But, beware of thieves who are using the simple process of money transferring to steal your money. Here are three tips to help keep you safe from being a victim of money transferring scams.
Avoid Fake Bill Payment Apps
If you use your smart phone to pay your bills online, be careful to only install and use real apps from the company you are doing business with. When you use an app to make a payment with your bank, credit card, or other online company, make sure it is a legitimate app. Anyone can make their own app or hire someone to make an app that looks legitimate. Then, when you use the fake app to make a payment, the funds go into the scammer's account. It is so simple to make an app, recently a 12-year old girl made her own successful app.
Only click on a trusted link to download an app, or download the app directly from a trusted website, such as the website for the company you are working with. If you download a fake app to your smart phone and begin to make payments, you will be wiring money to the scammer and you will not get your money back.
Watch Out for a Bogus Story
Scammers will also tell you a fake story to get you to wire them money. They may tell you that you have won a bunch of money or have an unknown relative that has left you money and you need to send them a processing fee to get the money. The scammers may also call or email you saying they are from the IRS and you owe them money or you are going to be arrested. They may also pretend to be from your bank and ask for payment for a missed due date.
Anytime you have someone sounding legitimate who is asking for money, check into it by making a quick phone call with a verified phone number before you wire any money. According to the FTC, government agencies and legitimate business will never ask you to pay by wiring money, so don't fall for the lie.
Avoid Over-payment Scams
If you are selling anything on the internet or in a classified ad, be aware that there are scammers who will act as a buyer to steal money from you. The way this fraudulent transaction takes place is the scammer will offer to pay you with a check or other non-cash payment for the item you are selling. The check the scammer offers you will be for an amount more than the price you are selling your item for. The scammer will tell you to deposit their check into your account, then transfer the difference back to them in a money transfer.
Do not fall for this, because the check the fake buyer is giving you is fake and will not clear your bank, but you won't know that for several business days. In the meantime, you will have wired the scammer certified funds from your own account for the amount difference of their fake check. As soon as you realize the fake check bounced, the scammer and your money will be gone. You will be left with a deposit item return fee or NSF charge and possibly an overdrawn bank account. In September 2014, the average deposit item return fee was reported as $12.85 and the average overdraft fee was $35.20, so these fees can add up.
Use these tips to help avoid money wire scams. If you need to transfer money online, you can click here for more information about finding a reliable services to use.
Share14 August 2015
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