Common Western Union Frauds- Red Flags to Look Out For

Advanced fee fraud

Prior payment is required from the victim for financial services that are never rendered. Victims frequently send a series of transactions to cover various up-front costs. Credit cards, grants, loans, inheritances, and investments are examples of common techniques.

Antivirus fraud

A well-known computer or software company contacts the victim, saying that a virus has been found on the victim’s machine. The victim is informed that a nominal cost can be paid by credit card or money transfer to have the virus eradicated and the computer safeguarded. The victim just lost the money they submitted for protection; there was actually no virus on the PC.

Charity fraud

The victim is frequently contacted by someone asking for a donation to be given by money transfer to a specific person to aid victims of a recent current occurrence, such as a disaster or emergency, via email, mail, or phone (such as a flood, cyclone, or earthquake). Genuine charitable organizations won’t ever request that funds be paid to a specific person via a money transfer service.

Emergency scam

The victim is made to think that the money they are donating is for a friend or family member who is in immediate need. Due to the victim’s inherent worry for a loved one being exploited, the victim transfers the money urgently.

Employment fraud

After responding to a job advertisement, the victim is recruited for the phony position and given a bogus check for work-related costs. When a check’s value is greater than the victim’s expenses, the victim transfers the excess money back. The victim is liable for the full amount if the check bounces.

Extortion

Threats to the victim’s life, arrest, or other demands are made by con artists in an effort to coerce them into giving them what they ostensibly owe, like money, property, or services.

Bogus Checks Fraud

As part of a scam, victims are frequently issued a check and instructed to deposit it and utilize the money for things like job costs, online purchases, mystery shopping, etc. The cheque is a forgery (counterfeit), and the victim is held liable for any money spent with its proceeds. Keep in mind that you shouldn’t spend money from a check deposited into an account until the check has fully cleared, which can take several weeks

Common Western Union Frauds

BUY INSTANT CASHAPP MONEY TRANSFER AUTO REFELCTION

Grandfather fraud

A version of the emergency hoax is this one.

The victim is contacted by someone posing as a grandchild in need or a representative of the state, such as a lawyer, doctor, or law enforcement officer.

The scammer claims that the grandchild is involved in an urgent problem or emergency that necessitates sending money right away (bail, medical costs, emergency trip funds).
The victim who gave money to help their grandson has lost the money they sent because there is no emergency.

Identity Theft

Identity thieves impersonate other people by using personal information (such as Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, and credit card numbers). This can entail creating a credit account, withdrawing money from an existing account, submitting tax returns, or getting health insurance.

Immigration Fraud

A caller calling themselves an immigration official informs the victim that there is a problem with the victim’s immigration record. To give the story more credibility, private information and delicate facts pertaining to the victim’s immigration status may be disclosed. Any concerns with the victim’s record must be resolved right away, and if payment is not paid right away via money transfer, deportation or imprisonment may be threatened.

Internet Purchase scam

Buyers or sellers of goods (such as dogs or vehicles) or services that are listed online through Craigslist, eBay, Alibaba, Gumtree, or carsales.com, etc., may be victims. Scammers that pose as trustworthy online merchants by using a phony website or a fraudulent ad on a legitimate website that advertises a product at a discount. They request payment via money order, pre-loaded debit card, or wire transfer; however, when the victim sends the money, no goods or services are ever delivered. Scammers will also send more money than the asking price while posing as real purchasers, then demand that the seller send them the difference in a money transfer.

Lottery / Prize scam

A lottery, prize, or sweepstakes winner is informed that they have won, and that they must send money to pay any associated taxes or fees. A check for a portion of the prize may be given to the victim, but once it is deposited and money is transferred, the check bounces.

Money-Flipping scam

New victims are being drawn into an old get-rich-quick scam using social media, where people advertise ways to “flip money,” or turn $100 into $1,000. According to the offer, investors may use anomalies in the financial system to leverage more money and transform a few hundred dollars into thousands of dollars. Once they have the money, con artists frequently stop the victim from contacting them on social media or via phone.

Military Fraud

Military service members are an appealing target for scammers for several reasons. They are abusing the wide-spread admiration for the military and posing as service men and women in order to trick people into sending them money.

Victims may encounter these romance scammers on a legitimate dating website or social media platform, but they are not U.S. Soldiers. To perpetrate this scam, the scammers take on the online persona of a current or former U.S. Soldier, and then, using photographs of a Soldier from the internet, build a false identity to begin prowling the web for victims.

Mystery Shopping scam

The fraudster contacts the victim through an employment website, or the victim responds to an ad about an employment opportunity to evaluate a money transfer service. The fraudster often sends the victim a check to deposit and instructs the victim to send a money transfer, keeping a portion of the check for their pay. The victim sends the money, the fraudster picks it up, and when the check bounces the victim is left responsible for the full amount.

Overpayment scam

The fraudster sends the victim a check that appears to be valid as payment for a service or product. Typically, the amount of the check exceeds what the victim expects to receive, and the fraudster tells the victim to send the excess back using a money transfer. When the check bounces, the victim is left responsible for the full amount.

The scammer will get in touch with you and pretend to be sorry for the overpayment. The con artist may claim that the additional funds were added to cover agent fees or additional shipping expenses. Or they can just claim that they wrote the check incorrectly.

The scammer will then demand that you either return the excess money or transfer it to a different party. They will request that you send the money to them via wire transfer, pre-loaded debit card, or online banking transfer. After that, you learn that their check has bounced or that their credit card was a stolen or phony one.

Phishing

Communication impersonating a trustworthy entity, such as a bank or mortgage company, intended to mislead the victim into providing personal information or passwords. A Phish is a fraudulent attempt, usually made through email (although can also be made via phone or text), to steal your personal information or propagate malicious code or software onto your computer

Phishing emails and text messages often tell a story to trick you into clicking on a link or opening an attachment. You might get an unexpected email or text message that looks like it’s from a company you know or trust, like a bank or a credit card or utility company. Or maybe it’s from an online payment website or app. The message could be from a scammer, who might

• say they’ve noticed some suspicious activity or log-in attempts — they haven’t
• claim there’s a problem with your account or your payment information — there isn’t
• say you need to confirm some personal or financial information — you don’t
• include an invoice you don’t recognize — it’s fake
• want you to click on a link to make a payment — but the link has malware

Relationship scam

Victim is led to believe that they have a personal relationship with someone they met online often by social media, in an online forum or on a dating website. The victim is often emotionally invested, often referring to the recipient as a fiancée.

Rental Property scam

Victim sends money for deposit on a rental property and never receives access to the rental property or the victim may also be the property owner who is sent a check from the renter and asked to send a portion of the check back using a money transfer and the check bounces.

Fraudsters set up rental scams by creating illegitimate listings for homes or apartments, and then tricking prospective buyers into making payments before realizing it’s all fake.

There are two main ways that con artists snag unsuspecting buyers into a phony deal:

1. Phantom rentals occur when scammers create rental ads with photos of an apartment or home that they don’t own and that isn’t for rent.
2. Ad hijacking occurs when fraudsters modify actual real estate listings and replace the realtor’s contact information with their own.

Social Networking scam

If a cybercriminal gains access to your social media accounts, they also gain access to your close friends and family. Criminals and con artists can take advantage of how much personal information people share online, and then use this information to make skillful and highly targeted pitches to their friends and family, often involving requests for money.

SMS/Smishing

Smishing is a form of phishing in which an attacker uses a compelling text message to trick targeted recipients into clicking a link and sending the attacker private information or downloading malicious programs to a smartphone.

Beware of texts that spark urgency, asking you to click on a link, taking you to a compromised site, or get you to unwittingly divulge some personal information that could be used against you.

Many attackers use automation to send several users their text messages using an email address to avoid detection. The phone number listed in caller ID is usually a number that points to an online VoIP service such as Google Voice, where you can’t look up the number’s location.

The following image displays a sample smishing attack. Here, the attacker poses as the IRS and threatens the recipient with arrest and financial ruin unless they call the number in the text. If the recipient calls, they get scammed into sending money.

Tax scam

Victim is contacted by someone claiming to be from a governmental agency saying that money is owed for taxes, and it must be paid immediately to avoid arrest, deportation or suspension of driver’s license/passport. The victim is instructed to send a money transfer or purchase a pre-loaded debit card to pay the taxes. Government agencies will never demand immediate payment or call about taxes without first having mailed a bill.

Telemarketing

Telemarketing broadly covers almost any commercial transaction that involves the use of a telephone to place or receive calls between a consumer and a telemarketer or seller for the transferring of funds, such as cash-to-cash money transfers or funds loaded onto a prepaid card, as payment for goods or services offered or sold through telemarketing, often relating to a promotion for a “free” or heavily discounted vacation, prize or sweepstakes scams, or the sale of “bargain” magazines.