Moneygram is a business enterprise allowing people to transfer monetary funds to relatives and friends almost anywhere in the world. While serving an important need with a huge demand for its service, it offers the opportunity for fraudsters to defraud people of their money.
Fraudsters communicate with people, set traps, and unwittingly lead individuals to send money. Since the popularity of the Internet, it has provided fraudsters another avenue for using Moneygram to swindle people of their money. While previously fraudsters may have wrote letters or the telephoned people to make contact, the Internet is now a popular medium for using Moneygram to defraud people of monies. Most Moneygram frauds involve no face to face contact, the fraudster persuades the victim to send money for an agreed purpose. Often follows contact made through the Internet, be it a 'spam' email, an ad placed on a website by the victim seeking to promote a service or contact made by the victim in response to a fraudsters' advert. This could be for example when a:
- Victim applications for a job, the fraudster request money through Moneygram to cover costs of equipment such as uniform before departure of the job.
- A tenant or landlord takes an interest in a property, requires money to secure it or the fraudster making payment which in turn require the victim to send money through Moneygram.
- Dating experience where fraudster communicates with someone on the Internet, after a while requests the victim to wire funds to pay for something like the medical costs of an unfortunate accident or emergency.
- Persons making contact with a senior citizen claiming to be their grandchild in need of urgent financial assistance in an emergency, wanting monies to be transferred via Moneygram.
- Auction or commercial websites selling goods where payment is demanded through Moneygram transfer.
- The common 419 scam, the fraudster seeking to transfer dormant funds from this country to that of the victim but requesting funds wired by Moneygram to carry out administration duties.
The victim and the fraudster usually exchange communication through email, build relationships, and the fraudster persuades the victim to send money through Moneygram. Of course once the money has been sent via money transfer and the relevant identification details are given, the fraudster is free to access the money. It should stress Moneygram provides an invaluable service, if used in ways advised, provides a safe and easy means of transfer funds to close friends and family.
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