Online money transfer scams are still a popular way for Internet criminals to extract money from unsuspecting
individuals and corporations. We believe that every person using the Internet should familiarise themselves with the
most popular money transfer scams to know how to avoid them and protect themselves from these scams.

Being a victim of a money transfer scam can leave you feeling vulnerable and out of pocket. You may also be uncertain about protecting yourself and your hard-earned money to prevent the risk of money transfer scams.

Hence, as the leading website for international money transfers, we decided to offer this comprehensive, searchable database of all
known money transfer scams. We made sure it is up to date and easy to digest and understand for anyone. We
encourage you to share more scams, if you have encountered them, on the comment section so that we can keep this
database up to date.

Top Money Transfer Scams :

• • Careful Who You Trust: Emails Scams

    Scam Basis:

    victim side

    • Carelessness
    • Digital Illiteracy
    • Inattentiveness

    scammer side

    • Social engineering

    Loss Potential:

    100 -500 USD

    Prevalence:

    Average

    Mode of engaging:

    Active

    Threat Level:

    Above average

    Oftentimes scam artists will use a familiar email address, such as one that might look like your boss’s or a friend. They will ask for money to be urgently transferred, and the request will come with very specific instructions or emotional pleas. Usually, the first clue is the emergency nature of the request. Perhaps they are stuck somewhere and need to catch a flight or pay for a hotel. Other times they may be asking for a personal favour. The fake situation can be anything, from business to home or family. One of the setbacks of doing business in today’s fast-paced and modernized world is that you may not know everyone on your team. Companies and co-workers are often located across the globe and in vastly different time zones. That can make verifying an email request, especially one labelled urgent, very tricky as communication is often delayed. A good example of this would be a scammer posing as a co-worker and emailing you for urgent help. When getting an email from a colleague or a friend, be sure to verify with the person through other communication means before sending any money. Keep in mind that such attacks can happen using emails you already know if your friend has been hacked. Also question any “urgent” need for money, and verify with the supposed sender before taking action. >>> Attention! Such cases are especially dangerous when emails come from real hacked email accounts.

    Key Indicators

    • Being rushed along
    • Uncharacteristic behaviour
    • Request to bypass standard procedures

    How to protect yourself

    • Confirm and doublecheck
    • Communicate via a different channel to verify authenticity
    • Initiate the communication from your end

    Table of Contents View Sorting Filters

• • Fake Invoices or “Whaling”

    Scam Basis:

    victim side

    • Inattentiveness

    scammer side

    • Forgery

    Loss Potential:

    100 - 1m USD

    Prevalence:

    Above average

    Mode of engaging:

    Active

    Threat Level:

    Above average

    In the same way that a scammer may use an email from the head of the company to try to con employees, they can also target other specific areas of a company. Financial departments can be particularly vulnerable to a method called “whaling.” This is when a scammer gets their hands on real email accounts within a company and uses them to file fake invoices. Invoices may end up in the hands of other employees or even outside companies. Scammers often use a company’s own letterhead or standardized accounting forms, changing only a few words. If you think an invoice you’ve received has been forged or sent by scammers, always be sure to report this and verify. Con artists and thieves will move on from a new target only once they’ve been discovered. Otherwise they may try this trick multiple times.

    Key Indicators

    • Altering account info
    • Uncharacteristic behaviour
    • Altering account info

    How to protect yourself

    • Only use verified software you are familar with for payments.
    • Use multi-step payment confirmation

    Table of Contents View Sorting Filters

• • Supply and Business Scams

    Scam Basis:

    victim side

    • Frugality

    scammer side

    • Social engineering

    Loss Potential:

    100 - 300 USD

    Prevalence:

    Very Low

    Mode of engaging:

    Active

    Threat Level:

    Average

    With this con, the first step is that a person will be approached by someone claiming to be a representative for another company, usually offering services and goods. The representative will offer the potential customer all kinds of discounts and promotions, tailoring the sales conditions to make them just right. In the end, they will offer to give you not the company’s account to pay but their personal one, using the excuse of a killer discount or free stuff. Once payment is received, the scammer disappears. This scam is seen the most often and more frequently in the world of crypto-currency. Participants in crypto transactions are usually anonymous, making it impossible to identify or verify the person posing as a representative of a company except by contacting the business separately yourself. Here is an example of a very common type of scheme. One day my friend received an offer for his Discord channel. A popular YouTube blogger was offering to make a film about his current work. Their channel had thousands of subscribers and millions of views, and the blogger was offering all this publicity for an incredibly low amount. The one condition was that a partial pre-payment was required. My friend took it upon himself to find the Facebook account of the blogger and wrote him personally about the offer. The blogger replied that he had no idea what he was talking about. It turned out he never did commercial video offers, and there was no buying access to subscribers. The person claiming to be him had co-opted his name simply for the recognition.

    Key Indicators

    • Too good to be true
    • Uncharacteristic behaviour
    • Request to bypass standard procedures

    How to protect yourself

    • Be careful with offers that sound too good to be true
    • Avoid unofficial or illegal procedures
    • Communicate via a different channel to verify the authenticity

    Table of Contents View Sorting Filters

• • Job Scams

    Scam Basis:

    victim side

    • Fear
    • Greediness

    scammer side

    • Abuse of trust

    Loss Potential:

    10 - 50 USD

    Prevalence:

    High

    Mode of engaging:

    Combined

    Threat Level:

    Average

    Employment scams can be particularly brutal as they target vulnerable, desperate populations: the unemployed or those who live on the edge of job security, such as freelancers. There are a few different ways an employment scam can be run. For example, the scammer advertises that they need an employee for simple, easy work; all they need is their own computer. The interested victim fills out an application, providing personal information. Then they get a letter from the business in the mail. There’s work available, usually something mundane like typing or copying. But the catch is that in order to receive the work, the employer requires a deposit from the victim, sometimes to pay for a processing fee or postage. A scheme like this often sticks to small amounts under $20. The victim never receives the promised work, and the company disappears. Another version of this kind of scam is where the supposed employer requires that a job candidate give them money as a security deposit for work materials that never come, like a computer and office gear or a new cell phone. There are also lots of scams hiding out in the many freelancer-for-hire websites. Here, one person can directly hire another for a specific job, but many times clients disappear before paying, or they refuse to pay by claiming the work is bad quality. Because of this, many freelancers will only work with websites that reserve the payments from the clients before the work starts and hold it in reserve until the work is done.

    Key Indicators

    • A suspicious pretext for requesting money

    How to protect yourself

    • Never provide a deposit or pre-payment for employment
    • Research company information online to verify reputability

    Table of Contents View Sorting Filters

• • Prepayment Fraud

    Scam Basis:

    victim side

    • Sympathy
    • Fear
    • Baseless trust

    scammer side

    • Abuse of trust
    • Intimidation

    Loss Potential:

    1 - 1,000 USD

    Prevalence:

    Low

    Mode of engaging:

    Active

    Threat Level:

    Very Low

    Payment systems for services is a tool that scammers love to use. It can also take a few different forms. The Ask: This is a very straight-forward method as it directly asks the victims to transfer money. Sometimes this is framed as a loan; other times it may be asked under the pretext of pretending to be a non-profit or charity cause. Blackmail: After hacking into a victim’s accounts or computers, the scammer will threaten to reveal personal information or shaming media from the computer. If the victim hopes to stop it, the scammers will force them to transfer funds. It’s a simply, time-tested method, but blackmail unfortunately often works as many people fear the repercussions of not responding more than they care to call the police. Fraud: Scammers will sell services or goods but insist on partial deposit being paid up front. Then, of course, the goods do not appear, and the seller disappears. The goods offered are usually low-priced items, which many people will not dispute, such as phone accessories or tights. But this can be seen with high-end items as well, such as cars and motorcycles. Scammers often seek out ad portals that are buyer to seller direct and which do not require full verification of the buyer.

    Key Indicators

    • Being intimidated
    • Previously unheard of
    • Too good to be true
    • Uncharacteristic behaviour
    • Being intimidated

    How to protect yourself

    • Set up email and instant messaging accounts
    • Confirm and doublecheck
    • Avoid prepayment when possible

    Table of Contents View Sorting Filters

• • App Fraud

    Scam Basis:

    victim side

    • Baseless trust
    • Laziness
    • Digital Illiteracy

    scammer side

    • Malware
    • Abuse of trust

    Loss Potential:

    100 - 1m USD

    Prevalence:

    Low

    Mode of engaging:

    Combined

    Threat Level:

    High

    While companies like iTunes and Google Play do try to weed out the bad ones, fake apps are another way that scammers collect and steal data. Scammers will design an app that copies the same processes used by mobile banking and electronic transfers. Logging into the app and filling out a profile will often require the victim to give up sensitive information like payment card data, birthdate, and passwords. These fake apps are often very detailed and are designed to appear very real. They offer services like balances, money conversion, rollover credit debt, electronic payments, and Internet payments. As the victim sets up their profile, they are asked to provide username and password information to their bank accounts or even electronic accounts like PayPal. Apple and Google will usually eventually catch a fraud app and remove it from their stores but often not before it has claimed more than a few victims.

    Key Indicators

    • Soliciting sensitive info

    How to protect yourself

    • Research company information online to verify reputability

    Table of Contents View Sorting Filters

• • Cryptocurrency Scams

    Scam Basis:

    victim side

    • Baseless trust

    scammer side

    • Malware

    Loss Potential:

    100 - 1m USD

    Prevalence:

    Average

    Mode of engaging:

    Active

    Threat Level:

    High

    Most people only know Bitcoin, but there are now many different kinds of cryptocurrencies in the world, and they are used by people to pay for everything from gaming to shoes. The basis of this scam is that in order to use a cryptocurrency, there is a particular application to download called the “wallet.” The wallet is used for making calculations. It connects you to the blockchain and allows you to make payments. If a fraud wallet app is downloaded, it can misdirect any cryptocurrency coming in to the wallet and can empty out the account. There are also many fraudulent cryptocurrency exchanges. These are sites where cryptocurrency can be exchanged, usually for services,but after a user sends payment to the scammers, nothing is returned or given in exchange.

    Key Indicators

    • Shoddy reputation
    • Request to bypass standard procedures

    How to protect yourself

    • Research company information online to verify reputability

    Table of Contents View Sorting Filters

• • Fake prizes

    Scam Basis:

    victim side

    • Greediness
    • Baseless trust

    scammer side

    • Social engineering

    Loss Potential:

    10 - 200 USD

    Prevalence:

    Low

    Mode of engaging:

    Passive

    Threat Level:

    Very Low

    Many Internet users are used to seeing these kinds of promotions: An online company announces they will be giving away one free laptop,but in order to qualify for the laptop, you will need to purchase something from them, like a cord or headset. The drawing, however, is never actually held, because there is no prize. The fact is, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Before entering any drawings, it is always a good idea to google the contest. If it seems like the contest has been running in several iterations for a long time, it is probably not legitimate.

    Key Indicators

    • Too good to be true
    • Being distracted

    How to protect yourself

    • Research company information online to verify reputability
    • Only trust parties you've worked with before

    Table of Contents View Sorting Filters

• • The Nigerian Inheritance Scam

    Scam Basis:

    victim side

    • Greediness
    • Baseless trust

    scammer side

    • Social engineering

    Loss Potential:

    200 - 1,000 USD

    Prevalence:

    High

    Mode of engaging:

    Active

    Threat Level:

    Very Low

    By now, most people are familiar with the “Nigerian emails” as an Internet meme. But despite laughing at them in concept, many people still fall for them. The letters are almost always in English, and they tell you that you have either won or inherited a lot of money. They’ll tell you that even though you are not familiar with this family member, they have been watching you and decided to leave you a ridiculous amount of money. All you need to do is take care of a small fee to activate the account, and afterward, the company will deposit your funds. This, of course, is not what happens. People who fall for this scam will often fill out paperwork with their personal information to authorize the “transfer” as well as send the money. When the initial scammer is done with the scam, having received the money, they can also turn around and sell the victim’s info to another scammer.

    Key Indicators

    • Too good to be true
    • Previously unheard of
    • Shoddy reputation
    • Suspicious pretext for requesting money
    • Being rushed along

    How to protect yourself

    • Never send money to strangers or unknown companies
    • Never feel rushed into a decision
    • Research company information online to verify reputability

    Table of Contents View Sorting Filters

• • Telephone Marketing Scams

    Scam Basis:

    victim side

    • Baseless trust
    • Frugality

    scammer side

    • Social engineering
    • Fake business

    Loss Potential:

    10 - 200 USD

    Prevalence:

    High

    Mode of engaging:

    Passive

    Threat Level:

    Low

    It is true that everyone these days seems to have a master class. People have figured out how to get paid for offering advice and techniques for topics like “Finding Happiness” or “Getting Married Before Thirty.” Not to mention the amount of diet fraud out there offering to help pounds melt off for the price of one class. Of course, we know rationally there are no miracle cures, whether or not we want to admit it. But the appeal is too much for many people, and they pay a lot of money for a few videos and a pamphlet. These scams remain effective because they loudly call out a hole inside of us, a secret shame or aspiration. They sell hope with the promise of quick, money-back rewards, but there is often nothing to be learned in classes like these that a savvy consumer couldn’t read about on the Internet after one basic search.

    Key Indicators

    • Too good to be true

    How to protect yourself

    • Never feel rushed into a decision

    Table of Contents View Sorting Filters

• • Untrustworthy Payment Systems

    Scam Basis:

    victim side

    • Inattentiveness
    • Digital Illiteracy
    • Baseless trust

    scammer side

    • Fake business

    Loss Potential:

    100 - 1m USD

    Prevalence:

    Average

    Mode of engaging:

    Active

    Threat Level:

    Above average

    Buying things online is always a risk unless you deal with large, well-known companies. Payment systems can have bugs or can be easily hacked. Others are simply fraudulent; owners will lie about the reliability of a system or deceive users about their process. A good example of this is the recent scandal of the StormPay system. The system was designed to be an international, open payment option,but it was never able to perform as well as its competitors, and eventually more funds were needed to keep development up. The company simply lied to users and closed down all accounts from specific countries. As a consequence, StormPay became nothing more than an auction trading portal and eventually shuttered its doors.

    Key Indicators

    • Losing account access
    • Payment delay
    • Shoddy reputation

    How to protect yourself

    • Research company information online to verify reputability
    • Read the latest news about the service

    Table of Contents View Sorting Filters

• • Illegal Services and Goods

    Scam Basis:

    victim side

    • Fear
    • Greediness

    scammer side

    • Fake business

    Loss Potential:

    100 - 1m USD

    Prevalence:

    Average

    Mode of engaging:

    Combined

    Threat Level:

    Above average

    Dealing with the black market is always a high risk for consumers. After all, with illegitimate products, there is no regulation and no consequence for being cheated. Illegal services can include under-the-table loans, sex work, drug trafficking, and illegal imports. When dealing with this kind of activity, it is incredibly easy for the seller to simply get your payment and disappear, leaving consumers out of luck. After all, the victim cannot go to the police without being at risk of being arrested for the attempted illegal practice themselves. Any black market transaction carries a high risk that you will be cheated, and therefore it is always safer to stick with legal methods. This wisdom is particularly true for transactions online, as there is even less accountability. But many people feel more comfortable attempting illegal transactions because it seems more private or safe since they do not need to see the person in real life and do not risk being robbed or attacked. Unfortunately, even though personal safety might be better, the risk to your financial information is much greater.

    Key Indicators

    • Explicitly illegal offer
    • Suspicious pretext for requesting money
    • Being rushed along
    • Being intimidated

    How to protect yourself

    • Avoid unofficial or illegal procedures

    Table of Contents View Sorting Filters

• • The Missing Item Scam

    Scam Basis:

    victim side

    • Sympathy
    • Baseless trust

    scammer side

    • Abuse of trust