Money Transfer Fraud
Money transfer services are often the preferred method used by a variety of fraudsters in online auction site frauds, 419 fraud, lottery fraud and criminal cash back.
Money transfer agents, which include Western Union, provide a service for those who need to send money quickly and reliably to friends and family, and should not be used for money transfer to people that you do not know or whose identity you cannot verify.
- Never pay for an item bought on an online auction site through instant wire transfer service, whether it is suggested after making the winning bid or through another approach, such as second chance offer or offer the goods at a reduced price suggesting you step outside the online auction site.
- Never send money via money transfer service if you have been in receipt of lottery fraud email, during which you are encouraged by the fraudster to send money in the form of advance fees to gain the release of the lottery funds, as genuine lotteries will never ask you for such funds to pay taxes or release fees. In fact genuine lotteries, such as the UK Big Lottery has no idea who has bought the winning ticket, so will never be able to contact you telling you about your ‘unclaimed’ prize money. Never send these people money by any method.
- Never send money via money transfer service if you have been in receipt of a ‘419’ email offering you a cut of a large sum of money if you help to release it from a bank account.
