Protect yourself and your company from these scammers.
Introduction
At the end of June 2023, I became a victim of wire transfer fraud. After the scammer became successful, the scammer attempted to scam me for a second time and this time, the request was three times the amount of the original scam. Of course, I learned my lesson from the first incident.
This article is to provide you with some tips on how to identify wire transfer and credit card fraud and how to avoid these scammers. Of course, scamming appears to be a big-time business and these scammers can easily appear to you as being authentic.
What is wire transfer fraud?
Wire transfer fraud involves scammers that convince you to transfer money electronically to them for services or products that you thought you were getting but you never got them.
What is credit card fraud?
Credit card fraud involves the use of a credit card without the authorization of the credit card holder. Credit card fraud also takes place when the owner knowingly authorizes the card for a transaction and then denies making the charge and getting reimbursed from the credit card company.
Identifying and avoiding wire transfer fraud
For a wire transfer to take place, you normally would get an email from a scammer pretending to be the real person. The name of the real person normally shows up in your inbox and so you take it for granted that that email is legitimate. However, based on my experience, if you press reply, you will realize that the email address is not the same email address. For example, a valid email for John Doe may be johndoe@gmail.com. Your inbox shows John Doe but when you press reply, you will realize that the email is johndoe1@gmail.com.
One of the ways you can do to avoid wire transfer fraud is to contact the owner by telephone to verify that the email was from him or her for a wire transfer. Do not take it for granted even though the email address may be accurate.
Another red flag is that when someone sends you an invoice on a company letterhead and they ask you to wire transfer the funds to an individual rather than the company, be very careful. Do some research on the company also to make sure that the company exists.
Furthermore, if someone asks you to send them money electronically, ask them if they accept credit cards so that you can make payment by credit cards. At least if you make a payment by credit card and it is fraudulent, then you can contact the credit card company so that you can get the money back. Of course, some will tell you they do not take credit cards but if it is a legitimate business, it is more than likely that business will have a credit card facility.
Property Management is also an area that you need to be cautious about. Many people have been scammed through property management. They transferred money to individuals perpetrating to be the owners of these villas or apartments. Make sure that these villas are on legitimate sites as these sites normally require the owner to verify ownership of their property and the money is normally collected by the booking sites. When someone ask you to wire transfer the funds to them and the property is not listed on a popular site, be very cautious as this can be a red flag.
Identifying and avoiding credit card fraud
Credit card fraud is taking place daily. There are many dishonest people in the world. They have access to your credit cards, and they used your details to purchase items for themselves as if they are the owners of the credit cards. It is important for you to check and monitor your credit card daily and if you see any transactions that do not look familiar, contact your credit card company immediately. You can also sign up for credit card protection and so each time a transaction takes place on your credit card, you will get a notification from the credit card company.
Of course, some merchants are victims of credit card holders. Some of the individuals use their credit card for transactions and denied them. Some credit cards now require just a tap on the machine, and this can be dangerous as no signs it. If you can avoid using these cards that require a tap, then avoid it because you have no proof that the credit card holder authorized that charge even though some of the tapping requires a signature. Make sure you ask for an id and take a picture of the id and make sure the signature on the id matches the signature on the credit card transaction. The thing is signing a document does not mean it is valid, especially if the signature is not your real signature.
Conclusion
Credit card and wire transfer frauds are a business for some people. Therefore, you must be very alert and vigilant. Ensure that you have necessary controls in place to avoid these scammers. It is very sad that people have the audacity to use other people’s credit card and convince others to send them money.
When you realize that you have been scammed, contact the financial institution immediately. You may be able to get it back if reported before the money reaches the scammer. Also, report the matter immediately to the Financial Crimes Unit.
Don’t take anything or anyone for granted. You may think the request is valid but still verified it through a phone call.