Money Transfer Scams & How to Avoid Them
Introduction
Using mobile payment applications on your smartphone to transfer and receive money might be a useful option. It enables migrants who work overseas to help their loved ones at home securely and economically. It provides family members with a practical means of ensuring that students studying abroad have the funds necessary to cover their tuition.
Additionally, money transfers internationally provide tourists a straightforward way to guarantee that they will have cash on hand when they arrive at their destination, regardless of where their travels take them. You may be familiar with mobile payment programs that allow you to transfer or receive money using your smartphone (or internet), such as PayPal, TangoPay, Venmo, or Cash App. Due to their popularity, scammers may attempt to utilize these applications to steal money from you.
What are Money Transfer Scams?
How can someone steal money and commit money transfer fraud? Via financial transaction fraud or hacking. Criminals try to force others into sending them money, so this kind of fraud may result in significant losses for both individuals and corporations. These thieves sometimes succeed in transferring funds from actual accounts to their fake accounts. These are a few of the most prevalent frauds involving money transfers.
Family Emergency Scams
In these scams, a hostile actor poses as a close friend, family member, or authority person, such as a lawyer or police officer, advocating on the family member’s behalf. They will pretend that somebody you care about has been arrested, abducted, hurt, or stranded abroad, and then claim that they are in an emergency and want immediate assistance.
Exploiting System Weaknesses
If the criminal has IT expertise, they may now investigate weaknesses in the bank’s system and, if they identify them, they will have complete access to move funds to the accounts of their choosing. Old software, poor passwords, or inadequate security procedures might be the cause of the vulnerability.
Social Engineering
The criminal employs psychology to take advantage of human behavior rather than hacking into the system of the bank or sending you an email. To better understand it, let’s examine this example:
To get you to give them the details that they need, the criminal would phone you and pretend to be a reliable employee of your bank. However, they would usually always emphasize the seriousness of the situation and convince you that it is really important.
To commit bank transfer fraud, they may also pose as a corporate executive and request money to be transferred to a new account.
Tips for understanding the money transfer scams?
You could be tricked by certain scammers into transferring their money using a smartphone payment app. This is because they are aware that it will be difficult for you to get the cashback once you do. Scammers may seek money to handle an emergency while posing as a loved one who is in distress. Others may claim that you have won a prize or a contest but that you must pay certain fees to get it.
If you use an app for mobile payments to transmit money, bear the following guidelines in mind:
· Never send money to claim the prize or collect wins from a contest.
· If someone calls you, don’t give them your account information.
· Use a PIN or multi-factor authentication to secure your account, and confirm that you are transferring money to the correct individual by verifying the recipient’s details before submitting any payments.
· If someone you know unexpectedly asks for money, talk to them to confirm that it is really from them and not a hacker who gained access to their bank account.
How to Avoid Money Transfer Scams?
It’s usually as easy as taking the moment to double-check information before completing a transaction to avoid money transfer fraud. Make sure you always know who you are donating payment to and why. When feasible, follow up by making a phone call to confirm information received by email, and vice versa.
Always use reliable channels, such as well-known phone numbers along with email addresses, to speak with relatives and close friends directly. Always follow up with someone else before giving money to the person on the opposite end of the line if you get a call via an unknown number posing as someone you know. Lastly, you may protect yourself from scammers by utilizing a reliable money transfer service like TangoPay.
Best Ways to Transfer Money Without Any Scam
Although transfer of funds fraud is a severe issue, you can protect your money by being aware of how it functions and by utilizing the appropriate tools. You may safeguard yourself and your company from these dangers by being knowledgeable about the many kinds of fraud and implementing strong security measures. TangoPay is a reliable smartphone application that facilitates safe and simple international money transfers. You may transfer money with confidence because of its advanced security measures, which guard against fraud. Additionally, you’re never alone if you need assistance along the way. The greatest defense against cash transfer fraud is being aware and ready.
