WESTERN UNION & THE SCAM INDUSTRY

Western Union advises its customers not to send money to someone that they have never met in person. Despite its efforts in increasing customers' awareness of the issue, Western Union is used for internet fraud by scammers.

Frauds regarding advance-fee for products purchased online and romance scammers continue to receive funds via Western Union confident in the knowledge that money lost to overseas scammers is almost always unrecoverable. For this reason it is banned as a medium of payment through eBay.

One of the most popular uses of Western Union has been at online trading/auction sites where buyers  can purchase goods and services from anywhere in the world, often at discounted prices. However, along with the benefits of online auctions, there is also risk of dealing with sellers that buyers have previously never met. Fraudulent sellers can disappear into cyberspace, leaving buyers with few remedies against them. While Western Union isn’t associated with these sellers, most of the times the payees become victims of fraudulent activity.

Another popular use is that of emails originating from Nigeria that entice prospective payees with fortunes of deceased personalities. Generally referred to as the 419 scam, these scammers use Western Union in order to obtain some “service charges” to pay off a lawyer/judge etc to release funds from a deceased party’s fortune so that the interlocutor and payee can split them accordingly.

In an interview with Nigerian scammers, all scammers said they prefer Western Union, and one claimed that "Western Union agents themselves are all in the game so you can claim your money with fake Identity and they just collect 5% from you for themselves and that's all".

In order to avoid getting scammed through Western Union, it is best to follow these practices:

1.    Never send money to a stranger using a money transfer service.

2.    Beware of deals or opportunities that seem too good to be true.

3.    Don’t use money transfer services to pay for things like online auction purchases.

4.    Never send money to pay for taxes or fees on foreign lottery winnings.

5.    Never send a money transfer, in the name of a friend or relative, with the intention of changing the name to someone you have not met personally.

6.    Never send a money transfer, in the name of a friend or relative, in order to delay payment of the transaction to someone you have not met personally.

That’s it for this edition. Be sure to join us next time where we discuss more methods. Till the next time... stay safe, trade safe.