Fund transfer scams
The catch
REMEMBER: IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT PROBABLY IS!
You receive a telephone call or e-mail, or might see an advert in the newspaper or on the internet.
The actual way they contact you, and the cover-story they use might vary. But you'll probably be asked to receive a payment into your bank or building society account, take it out as cash, and then send it abroad using other means (such as a money-transfer service as offered in many high street shops). For helping out, you'll be offered a nice little commission (often 6-7%).
What's wrong with that?
There's no such thing as easy money and you're probably helping criminals to launder money. Once the funds are taken out of your account as cash, they become almost impossible for the law enforcement agencies to trace.
By helping these fraudsters clean the dirty money you could be committing a serious criminal offence, and if the authorities don't believe your story you could find yourselves in serious trouble with the law. If convicted by the Crown Court you could be sentenced to 14 years imprisonment and receive an unlimited fine. You could also be helping to swindle innocent victims of a variety of other scams (a typical example being phishing).
Who is targeted?
All kinds of people, because it looks like it’s low-risk and easy. Anyone on a low income might be easily tempted – in particular students, who might have their details listed on recruitment websites or in chat rooms.
Protect yourself
- Keep your anti-spam software up to date. Many of these scams are initiated via spam – the bombarding of users with e-mail using large automatic mailing lists. By keeping your anti-spam software up to date, you will be downloading the latest filters which can stop this type of spam.
- Think carefully before parting with your cash! Does the deal you're being offered have an unofficial feel to it? A business trying to dodge taxes by employing random strangers is unlikely to be on the right side of the law.
- Charity appeals. Charities are registered organisations and rarely have problems distributing funds – you can check the status of a UK charity by looking them up on the Charity Commission's Register of Charities – see Related links.
More information on fund transfer scams, including recent examples, can be found on the UK banking industry's Bank Safe Online website – see Related links.