STEP 1 of 6

The Best Answer:

Offer to research flights
and buy the ticket

If you offer to research flights and buy the ticket this means the scammer can’t steal the money and will likely show his or her true colors and bail on the relationship.

Online dating is nearly a billion dollar industry and fraudsters are cashing in on it by targeting people looking for love.

Before you send any money, make sure you really know this person and, most important, have met in-person.

This might be the Emergency Scam. Before you send any money, independently validate the situation with the person in trouble and/or other family members or friends— even if the person who contacts you asks you not to contact or tell anyone.

This might be a Rental Property Scam. Before you send any money, meet the person you’re dealing with in-person and visit the property you’re considering renting.

This might be a Relationship Scam. Before you send any money, make sure you really know this person and, most important, have met in-person.

The Best Answer:

Call her and other
family members to confirm
she’s in trouble

Fraudsters play on your emotions of wanting to help a friend or family member in need with the Emergency or Imposter Scam. A key to this scam is the fraudster’s ability to establish an extreme sense of urgency, but before you send any money, independently validate the situation—even if the person who contacts you asks you not to contact or tell anyone.

In 2011, consumers filed more than 73,000 imposter scam complaints according to the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel Network database.

In certain circumstances the answer to a test question may be used to pick up a transaction. The sender and receiver are the only people who know the question and the answer. Scammers sometimes tell victims to add test questions to transactions but it’s just a ploy to gain their trust; letting victims think it provides added protection when it actually doesn’t. Test questions are not an additional security feature and cannot be used to time or delay the payment of a transaction.

With limited exceptions, money sent to the U.S. can be picked up at any Agent location in the specified destination state. Money sent outside of the U.S. can generally be picked up at any Agent location in the specified destination country. Scammers sometimes tell victims to specify a pickup location when initiating a transaction, but then they pick up the money at a different location.

Rules and regulations vary by country but, in general, you can use government issued photo identification, such as a drivers’ license or passport, to pick up a Western Union Money Transfer transaction. Scammers sometimes tell victims to “protect” their transaction by using a relative’s name as the receiver, only to turn around and create a fake ID so they can pick up the money themselves.

The Best Answer:

After I deposit the check, I...

Complete my assignment
after waiting a few weeks
for my bank to say it cleared

In 2011, consumers filed more than 36,000 employment-related scam complaints according to the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel Network database.

In this scenario, scammers send victims fake checks and tell them to deposit them and use the funds to “evaluate” Western Union’s money transfer service. Victims send money using the service only to find out later that the checks bounce and they’re responsible for paying the bank back.

Remember: Never send money from a deposited check until it officially clears. Just because funds are available doesn’t mean a check has cleared—by law, banks must make deposited funds available within a few days but it can take weeks to uncover a fake check.

please select an answer.

They use lots of tricks to gain peoples’ trust. Then they get people to send money through a money transfer service like ours and attempt to steal it.

Smart people fall for scams every day. Test your knowledge of money transfer fraud and learn how to protect yourself.

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So they can protect themselves too.

These could all be scams.

None of these can protect your funds.

PROTECTS

NOT SURE

DOESN'T PROTECT

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Con artists use smart people like you, and good money transfer companies like Western Union, to steal money. You can spot the warning signs of a scam.

Visit our Consumer Protection Center and arm yourself with the knowledge to protect yourself and your friends and family. You’ll learn the things you should never do when using a money transfer service to send money; the tricks scammers use to gain your trust; how to follow our alerts to stay informed; and more.

Together, we can fight fraud.