These types of services are for
1. People that do not have bank accounts
2. Money as a gift
3. To pay a bill (i.e. car payment).
If you send someone money this way, plan on never getting it back. Legitimate companies will NEVER EVER ask you to pay this way.(Ask yourself, when have you ever bought something from a store, and you "Moneygrammed" your payment for it?) If you need more proof, just browse through this forum of hundreds of people that are trying to find ways to get their money back.
This is my recent experience: I was dealing with a company I thought was legit. I checked them out on the internet, and it was an actual electronics company in Hong Kong. However, this guy had a free yahoo address(Why not have an email address from the company?) And when I checked out the IP address from the emails, they were traced to Nigeria. Then when he sent an email stating that method of Payment was Western Union, I knew he was a scammer. Also, the name he said to wire the money to was completely different, a 'Aletor Itua'; When I searched this name, I found endless articles of people being scammed from this same person. For fun, I emailed the scammer, telling him that I won't do Western Union, and recommended Escrow.com. This is the email I received back:
"this is my HONG KONG NATIONAL ID CARD,i have never done this before not even to the most trusted customer i will not send my ID card to that person the reason is that here in HONG KONG anyone could be easily located and arrested wherever you are so everyone here in HONG KONG do not give out there ID CARD but i have decided do this because of what you said in the content of your first mail and you wanted someone who could work with you to achieve success . The person that taught you and gave you all those informations are very correct but i want to inform you that if there are bad people in business there are also good people , 10 bad fruits on a tree does not make the whole fruits on the tree bad i want to assure you of a good deal you just wait and see also i want you to know that western union is not established for bad transaction western union is a legal means , but bad people just want to make it bad also do you know that there have been recent reports of cheat via paypal, escrow mr peter with this email bp20002003@yahoo.co.uk was cheated of about 13,000 dolars via paypal escrow but when he met me today he his happy as he bought goods worth 1800 dollars and he his happy in conclusion it is not method of payment that really matters what matters is the person that you wants to buy from , i have conscience oaky and i have promised myself to be good always and not cheat anyone i want to assure you that you are ina a safe hand just go ahead and send the money right now and give me the MTCN today and i will get back to your email with the FEDEX shipment tracking numkber today take me for my word i am expecting to hear from you N.B . please please please my national id card i send to you is my life please , i will send your item and also to the second address immediatelly i get the MTCN after you have your items i will require you to inform me . THANKS. Stephen Lai "
REMEMBER THEY ARE GOOD.....THEY MAKE A LIVING THIS WAY!
We are all keeping the scammers thriving by falling for their tricks. Please, please please do your research, and keep your money safe by only dealing with legitimate companies with legitimate payment methods, like www.escrow.com. I posted an ad for wanting to buy Nintendo Wii's, and I received over 40 responses- all fake. Be Careful and be Wise. I HAVE STARTED A WEBSITE FOR ALL OF US HONEST PEOPLE TO TELL OUR STORIES, GET HELP, AND STOP THESE SCAMMERS. Email me for more information at helpIwasscammed@yahoo.com, and visit my fraud website at http://www.helpiwasscammed.com
![[em14]](http://img.alibaba.com/images/eng/style/icon/emoticons_embrace.gif){kind=icon}
NOTE: I have no idea why, but if you send me an email from a gmail account, I will not be able to respond to you. I apologize for the inconvenience. Hot Topic Recommend
I'd sent money to a recipient in Russia.
Western Union phoned me 5 (yes FIVE) days later to inform me they could not deliver the money.
The reason they gave was that my recipient has a 'suspicious' name.
The reason they gave for the five day delay was that they had to conduct an 'investigation'.
They also said I had to provide an address for the recipient.
There was no space for recipients address on the form I had to fill out when I sent the money originally. The agent that took the money to be sent, including a substantial Western Union fee never asked me for an address, or informed me that such a problem might arise.
What irked me most was firstly the five day (yes, FIVE DAYS for something billed as an 'instant' service to tell you they decided not to put it through, but to run an 'investigation' instead) and secondly how their agents who phoned me and the supervisor I managed to talk to made it out to be normal and somehow MY fault for not providing the address. I repeat, there is no space for recipients address on 'send money' form, nor was I informed by the agent that such information even MIGHT be necessary. I would have happily provided the address.
As for a suspicious name, my recipient has one of the most common names in Russia, not that it should be in any way relevant.
So it seems the whole Western Union company is a scam. Beware
Thank you for this information. I find it very helpful. I just posted a request for Nintendo Wiis so I'm now scarred of any responses. How did you do on the wiis can you recommend me a supplier.
Quoting from [greenroomguy]:
Replying to [nmasoud]:
sorry i'm quite new to this. what made you think that correspondence thru trade manager is most likely a scam? thanks.
It was two things:
1- The fact that the only way the correspondence took place was via trade manager. Typically companies will have a domain named email account. The fact that email from a domain named account was never offered as a contact option was a flag.
2- The technique was very pushy - insisting always on payment.
Quoting from [jersondr]:
Replying to [inwilddreams]:
That's true, thereare many scammers that ask for WU payment. I have been deceived too. However, being in import business for some years, there are legit companies in China that ask for Western Union and they do deliver. One reason for WU payment convinience is the cost of a wire transfer. If you are a small size importer, and you just start doing business with a Chinese company, you just can't buy big volume. So if you buy samples for 100 -200 USD, and the cost of a transfer is $30, is that worthy? I don't think so. In our case, in Dominican Republic, we have to pay $40 USD for a transfer... imagine making a transfer of $100 :-)
Also, T/T take 4 days, WU is instant. Just find a legit company.
I do a company background seacrh, I ask, I inquire, etc, and when i feel comfortable, then I proceed to buy. So WU is ok if your supplier is legit. Finding who is legit is the real dilema.
I agree with u completely.any payment is ok,if the supplier is honest and legitimate.
the site- www.fly321.biz
Learn a lots from your article and from the comments. I am so surprice that using western union payment will give such bag impression to customers. It is really not a good way for doing business, I think, althrough it is also convenient. It is more safe to use it when send money to your friends or family. Paypal is good and convenient but not very good for sellers, I think.
Yes, as China lawyer who is working for buyers, I always meet buyers who say they are scammed by suppliers, some of the scammer suppliers are in Putian City, Fujian Province. And most of them use western union to receive money, it is very bad a thing for the image of China.
The best way is to make sure who is who before you pay them.
Hey there
I think there is a solution for both byers and sellers, cash on delivery!!! you pay - you get the product, you don´t pay - the delivery guy just won´t give it to you.
some of the scammers tried to cheat me, but thanks god i was clever enough not to let this happen, just asking them all the papers like export licence - bbbufff, they are not there anymore, gone with the wind, and why? because they don´t need such a paper, as they never export anything ))))))
we should accept cash on delivery. this is the only way to scare the scammers away and protect your money!
Quoting from [dytransport]:Hey thereI think there is a solution for both byers and sellers, cash on delivery!!! you pay - you get the product, you don´t pay - the delivery guy just won´t give it to you.
some of the scammers tried to cheat me, but thanks god i was clever enough not to let this happen, just asking them all the papers like export licence - bbbufff, they are not there anymore, gone with the wind, and why? because they don´t need such a paper, as they never export anything ))))))
we should accept cash on delivery. this is the only way to scare the scammers away and protect your money!
i personally think western union to any trusting partner is perfect payment method,
fast simple efficiant, you can actually speak to the real life agents on the phone,
as opossed to gettin an answer machine,and waitin for ever for someone to pick
up a phone for any queries like paypal, and charging you to hang about on a phone
waitin for ever, yes i would say havin done a good few deals payin to china, so far
to good trading partners ,that western union has worked well, not everyone that
wants western union is a scammer, this is a nonesense,![[em2]](http://img.alibaba.com/images/eng/style/icon/emoticons_laugh.gif){kind=icon}