How to Spot and Avoid Money Transfer Scams

With the arrival of December and the Christmas season, there is likely to be a rise in online scams and internet fraud. A scammer is a person who preys on vulnerable individuals using fake profiles, photos, and company information to lure them into providing their personal and financial information. 

At Sprint, we treat online security with the utmost priority; and we believe in protecting our customers from falling victim to cybercrimes. This guide will explain how to spot, avoid, and protect yourself from online money transfer scams. 

How to spot online money transfer scams:

Watch out for emails that seem too good to be true: You may receive an email, out of the blue, saying you have won an all-expenses-paid trip to the Caribbean, but you have to transfer some money to unlock your prize. 

Money requests via social media: If a stranger contacts you on social media and asks you to send them, be wary of sharing your information immediately. 

Illegitimate businesses: Watch out for companies that contact you with faux contracts and lucrative deals. Before you transfer money to a company, ensure you do thorough research on them. 

Request for personal information: If a stranger asks you to share your password, card PIN, or bank account details, you are most likely dealing with a cybercriminal. 

Unsecure website links: Be wary of clicking unfamiliar-looking links you receive via text or in your email spam folder. 

Tips for avoiding online money transfer scams

Avoid sending money to a beneficiary or account number you do not recognize

Ensure the money transfer service you are using is secure and has ‘HTTPS’ in its URL. 

Avoid sending money to anyone who demands it immediately. Most online scammers tend to end their emails with a note of urgency. 

Never share easily identifiable personal information online or with strangers. 

Delete emails with spelling mistakes and obvious grammatical errors. 

Double-check your recipient’s account information before you hit ‘send’. 

Protecting yourself against online fraud

To fully protect yourself against fraud, stay informed and on high alert while making an online transfer. Sprint is committed to building fraud protection tools in our money transfer platform. Your safe and security matters to us.