Don't Pay Strangers Using Bank Transfer

Do not send money via Bank to Bank transfer to make a purchase in an online transaction when you are dealing with a person or company you don't personally know, have never done business with before or have even the slightest question or concern as to their identity or legitimacy!

Doing so leaves you open to be scammed!  Real companies except PayPal or credit cards. Bank transfers are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to reverse because the bank's position will be that you authorized the transfer even if that authorization was based on fraud! In fact, all bank wire agreements say precisely that. Frequently the scammer will withdraw the money as soon as it is wired into his account. Some scammers will fulfill small orders based on a bank to bank transfer to build trust and when the victim makes a larger order, they will not delivery the merchandise and keep the money.

Many scammers will want you to transfer money to a bank account which is in the name of a totally unrelated individual or entity than who the scammer claims to be. Sometimes the scammer will claim that the individual is an employee or director who is in charge of receivables which is why the money is to be paid to his or her's account. No real company or government uses an individual's bank account to collect money that is due to the company or government. The fact that an employee is responsible for tracking payments to a company does not mean that payment would be paid to that employee's individual bank account! If you owe WalMart, you don't send a check to some WalMart employee, you send it to WalMart. The bank account the scammer has given you either belongs to a fellow scammer or someone collecting the money on behalf of a scammer for a cut of the "take." Sending money via bank to bank transfer is not much safer than sending it via Western Union. Western Union/MoneyGram = Fraud & Scam!