The Truth About Fraud, Scams, Scammers and Western Union (and MoneyGram)
In the current age of almost being able to track any online financial from the sender to the receiver, covering ones tracks when effectively stealing money from people in cyberspace isn’t an incredibly easy task, but it can still be done.These days there isn't any type of escrow or payment service in the world that doesn't require some sort of identification when setting up an account to withdraw money. If you have a Paypal account you’ll remember the steps you had to take to "verify" your account by entering the exact amount of two small payments Paypal made into your account. These are security steps to prevent fraud. These days scammers have to pick which service is easiest to take advantage of and encourage innocent victims into paying them through that service through deception.
That service that scammers typically pick is instant money wiring services like Western Union and MoneyGram.
Whilst you do need to show identification to pick up money sent to you, it isn’t hard to fake a driver’s license or a passport to pass a basic security check. These money wiring services don’t require your bank details like Paypal or escrow services do, and can’t be traced to a verified receivers address like when accepting credit or debit payments. Additionally, you can pick up your money from anywhere in the world that has the respective store, making it a scammers paradise.
You see when sending a payment like this, the victim has to enter in the receivers details like their name and address, and optionally for added security a password or security question. They then get a control number that they pass to the scammer. The scammer enters the respective office at their end – anywhere in the world – and equipped with their fake ID showing their fake address, picks up the money and disappears. When the victim complains, any investigation to the receivers address on record just shows that the address is either faked or has never been occupied by the scammer. The money has gone for good, with very little hope of compensation or the funds ever being returned to the victim.
It is for these reasons that scammers will request payments through Western Union or MoneyGram. It is easier than hacking PayPal accounts and easier than setting up fraudulent details to accept credit/debit card payments.
Services like Western Union or MoneyGram are used to send money to people that you know. There are no exceptions. It is easy and it is instant, so sending money to family members abroad for example, can be done with little hassle or difficulty.
You should never be required to send money through these services by any professional entity, for example online shops. It is a personal service that is easily taken advantage of, so no one you have never met should ever require you to make a payment in such a way. If they do request that you make a payment this way, you know something is up.
Requests for these sorts of payments are prolific in many “Nigerian” scams including advanced fee fraud, which encompasses fake lottery winnings, fake business transactions with African bankers/barristers/widows/accountants and fraudulent job offers. Also it is common in check cashing scams that send you fake checks that overpay you and request you send the difference back. Or when scammers send you fake checks and request you wire a percentage on elsewhere. Because it is instant payment, the money the victim wires is long gone before the banks realise the initial check was fake.
Overall - never, never, never, never wire money using these services to people that you have never met and do not know well. It is unprofessional for any business of any kind to request payment through this method, so if they do, seek help, because it is more than likely you are being scammed.
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