The Expert Podcast

Is it even safe to transfer funds online or electronically Look in the old days , you want to give somebody money you have to handed them cash , or you wrote a check . If it was a business . You might use a credit card through their merchant account You pay by credit card , whether it's online . you give them the number on your . website . Over the phone or you swipe a card at a merchant . What about all of the new ways to pay money PayPal Zelle . Transfer wise , are these safe ? You can even do a wire transfer at your bank Well , It's a little bit different You have to understand the differences of an online transfer versus using some other function . A couple of good articles one about Zelle having some problems . But here's the basic thing to understand Once you do a transfer , that's not your money anymore . There's no take backs on a wire transfer . Even if . There's an error . The wrong name , the wrong account number . It's not your money What we recommend doing . If you're transferring any significant amount of money . Is to do a test transfer first . If you're sending money for a closing of an escrow account on a sale . If you're sending a large amount for a purchase . Send A small amount of dollar $2 something that you can throw away . Through that transfer to that source . And verify that the person that you are trying to get it to actually receive that The reason why is because if for some reason you have the wrong information . Accidentally or on purpose . That's small transfer Won't get to where you're sending it to If you send it to the wrong escrow company the wrong attorney , the wrong car dealership . If you say Hey did you get that $2 I sent And they tell you no . Well now You know that it went to the wrong place . So send a test amount . Verify they have it and get it in writing . That they've received it Yes We received your money Make sure it's coming from the actual company You're trying to send it to a lot of these scammers and cyber hackers . Take the identity . Of your recipient . By having an email that looks like there's . And that doesn't . Keep the bank from processing it banks make process wire and other transfers Even if there's evidence that transaction is initiated by a fraudster And the banks have been protected . There's a case of lucky star enterprises versus Wells Fargo that the The company I sent money . Two a contractor through Wells Fargo . And it went to a scammer . So they sued Wells Fargo for saying look . You shouldn't have let this go through It was obviously a different person . They sent $125,000 . The employee of lucky star followed the email instructions they received and they sent it unbeknownst to the employee The Wells Fargo account did not actually belong to the contractor . Even though the account number was similar . The name of belonged to fraudsters They learned afterwards the contractor account was actually controlled by fraudsters who found out about the fact that they're doing this remodel . And Wells Fargo even flagged it as fraudulent . But the fraudsters moved the money over money overseas and they lost it What happened while the court ruled against this business in the favor of the bank ? Even though the name was different . The bank may rely on the number as the identification of the beneficiary So even though the name on the account wasn't the same as what it was sent to basically the people they sent the money lost their money . Banks are entitled to ignore conflicting names on wire transfers based on the account number . So if they see two different names , they could still put the money through when you lose your funds . So if you sent a test message , I mean a test transfer to the . The recipient and ask them Hey did you get that $2 They say no well now you're not going to send . The $125,000 and lose out all your money How often does this happen Well , According to this article . Zelle . Which is an app used by banks to transfer money . It's extremely common It's a scam that is . More ubiquitous than people think . According to law enforcement the scammers are out in full force taking advantage of corks and digital banking , mobile apps . That make it easy for them to get your money . The Zelle thing is huge and crooks are using it to their advantage . Nearly 18 million people have been hit by widespread fraud on money . Transfer apps . Is according to the early warning service . By the government . Zelle's biggest draw the immediacy of transfers also make scams more effective . It's a favorite of fraudsters . It would look we're not picking on Zelle Any other money transfer is . At risk of the same thing . So be aware that it could be any of these platforms not just Zelle . And like the other article said it's tough to get money back when scammed . You're not really going to be able to do a charge back like on a credit card because it's considered a money transfer . you're pretty much out of luck You can't try suing them but you're not kind of know who to Sue . What kind of scams are these It could be anything It could be somebody selling puppies online PlayStations , expensive sneakers , fake apartment rentals . All kinds of scams anything where you're sending money buying a car online . It could be a fraud So if you're going to send money again do a test transfer get identification of who's receiving it So you know who it is You're doing business with . And make sure the platform itself was legit . You know there's some money . Transfer platforms People haven't heard of . That aren't even legitimate , obviously Zelle and PayPal and some of the other ones we've seen . Over the years . Are legitimate money transfers . Venmo comes to mind as another one . But they're all are brand new So when you see a new company pop up you don't know if it's legitimate or they're just taking your money . So you won to do some research on those as well ? We get probably 40 or 50 inquiries a day from people who have lost money on scams that are trying to get their money back on our investment side . Investigation side . And a lot of times that money is gone for good . You could do an investigation If it's a high dollar amount sometimes you can locate the people in their assets . To get a return of that money . But it's important to make sure that you don't lose it in the first place And those are some ways . To try to prevent it . Test . The pathway by using a small amount of money . And then verify that the actual person or company that you're dealing with received it and then do your full transfer using the exact same information Don't re type it , just send it to the same one that's already in your account because you know they received it . Especially if you have written documentation that they received your first transfer .