Yes, Western Union money transfers are a safe way to send and receive money in more than countries around the world. In addition to being the fastest way to send money, Western Union protects its users with a number of safety features.
To initiate a wire transfer through Western Union, the sender is required to provide photo identification. The recipient must also provide identification when they go to pick up the money you sent. Plus, every Western Union money transfer is linked to a tracking number that allows you to check the status of the transfer. Con artists often suggest Western Union money orders as a means of payment for their scams.
So as a rule of thumb, you should only use Western Union to send money to friends, family, and established businesses. Western Union scams usually work by convincing someone that they have an urgent need for something. Learn more about Fake Check Scams. Many Western Union users are familiar with the popular scams.
Fake-refund con men can scam those who lost money in the past. You come in with a different promise, and the person will believe it. Fraudsters use partial truth when it comes to Refund programs. Western Union agents will help in those cases they can, but they will not issue refunds if the money was picked up already.
Online scammers will promise to return you everything no matter what. You just either pay a recovery fee or give them your bank details.
You know, so they can verify your identity. The scammer wants to give the impression that your Western Union transfer is private and safe. They will tell you to hide the MTCN and send them a screenshot of your receipt.
They want you to prove you wired the money. According to the scammer, hiding that code will prevent unwanted people from picking it up. But all the con man needs is your receipt, then show it to Western Union, and pick up the funds. The Money Transfer Control Number merely shows the status of your order by entering ten digits.
It has no usage for security. They want you to wire money upfront and get your receipt. After the disagreement, the person accepts using escrow for one condition.
You need to wire money to the escrow he recommends. He claims your money will be safe after you wire to this address.
The same con man. A Western Union scammer can also pose as an Escrow. He will want you to deposit funds via his link, which has some unique ID or some other excuse. Wiring to a bogus escrow is not different from sending money to a stranger. Because you reached out first, the con man knows you want the deal and have plenty of money. Knowing they know your contact information, that turns you into the ideal phishing victim.
Get ready for verification alerts from Paypal, Escrow. You can go to this website and verify the routing number on the check and get the bank's phone number, then call the bank to verify that the account is real and the check is real. If you did, you cannot get your money back. Once the funds are sent through Western Union and picked up at the other end, there is no trail to follow.
You don't even know to where you sent the money or who actually picked it up. The criminals walked out the door of the office with your money and disappeared, never to be seen again. Click here for steps to take to protect yourself if you have replied to a scammer. And you might what to read this email from an actual victim telling what happens if you cash the check. And to see some of the names they use or confirm that one you received is a fake, check these pages:.
We're discussing AFF scam emails, but the scammers will use any method to reach their victims, including:. If you would like a more detailed explanation of how the scammers in Nigeria operate, see this page. Free identity theft resources, fact sheets and guides Who to report to: links to government reporting websites, and repair tools!
State Attorney Generals list - report the criminals to your state attorney general. The "Nigerian" Scam: Costly Compassion [ PDF version ] - Explains how the scam works Supposed Nigerians politely promise big profits in exchange for help moving large sums of money out of their country and what to do if you get an offer.
And if you'd like a good laugh at how some scambaiters like to turn the tables on the scammers, read this article from the BBC. And please let us know about any suspicious calls or emails you receive. We look for patterns so that we can alert the authorities and victims to new scams, before it is too late!
For a comprehensive list of national and international agencies to report scams, see this page. Names used by scammers in the examples on this page and others often belong to real people and businesses who often have no knowledge of nor connection to the scammer's use of their name and information.
Sample scam emails and other documents presented on this website are real copies of the scam to help potential victims recognize and avoid it. You should presume that any names used and presented here in a scam are either fictitious or used without their legitimate owner's permission and have no relationship to any person or business that also shares that name, address, phone number or other identifying information.
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