Letter 5 of 6
Return to sender
Money transfer scams
Scams try to trick you into paying money or handing over personal details. Moneysmart warns that money sent to a scammer is almost impossible to get back. If you think you have paid one, contact your bank or the transfer business straight away, ask it to stop the transaction, and report the scam to Scamwatch.
General information, not financial or legal advice. This guide is independent: it is not a bank or a remittance provider and names no provider. Check the current rules with ASIC’s Moneysmart and AUSTRAC.
The scams that end in a transfer
Scamwatch lists many kinds of scam. These are the ones whose own descriptions turn on moving money, with a warning sign Scamwatch gives for each.
Business email compromise
Scammers pose as a business you have used and send an invoice with new payee details, so a legitimate payment goes to them.
Warning sign: a supplier’s payment details change without notice.
Relationship scams
Scammers use romance, dating or friendship to earn your trust, then tell you about an urgent problem they need money for, or ask you to set up accounts or transfer money for them.
Warning sign: there is always a reason they cannot meet in person or video chat, often that they are overseas.
Unexpected money
You are told you are owed money, an inheritance or a prize, and asked to pay a fee or tax first. One variety offers you a share of a large sum if you help move money out of another country.
Warning sign: you must pay money up front to receive money.
Jobs and money mules
Fake jobs ask you to pay to start, or to receive money into your account and pass it on. Scamwatch says acting as a money mule is a serious crime, even if you do not know or understand how the money is being used.
Warning sign: the job involves transferring money on behalf of someone else.
Impersonating a regulator
Scammers pretend to be from AUSTRAC to demand fines, taxes or other transfers. AUSTRAC says it will never demand payment or your personal details by email or phone.
Warning sign: you are asked to pay penalty fees by money transfer, or told you can avoid prosecution by paying.
Money recovery
After a scam, people are contacted by someone offering to get their money back for a fee. Scamwatch says you will not recover any money this way, and the scammers will take more.
Warning sign: you are asked for a fee, a percentage or a “tax” to fund the recovery.
Two rules from Scamwatch’s relationship-scams page apply to most of them: never send money to someone you only know online, however long you have been messaging, and never agree to transfer money for someone else, because they may be involving you in money laundering.
Stop. Check. Protect.
Scamwatch sums up its advice in three steps.
STOP
Take a moment before giving money or personal information to anyone. Scammers create urgency to rush you.
CHECK
Make sure the person or organisation is real: contact them using details from their official website or app.
PROTECT
Act quickly if something feels wrong: contact your bank, and report it.
If you have already sent money
Moneysmart’s first steps: if you have sent money, do not send any more, and block all contact with the scammer. Report it to your bank or financial institution, ask them to stop any transactions, and ask what else you should do. Then warn family and friends, and report the scam to Scamwatch.
Who to contact depends on how you paid. Moneysmart sets it out like this.
| How you paid | Who to contact first |
|---|---|
| Bank transfer or card | Your bank or card provider, immediately: ask them to stop any transactions. |
| Money transfer app | The app provider (the seller or developer, not the app store). |
| Crypto | The platform or service you used to send it. |
| Gift card | The company that issued the card. |
| Cash by mail or courier | Australia Post or the delivery service, to see if the package can be intercepted. |
If you sent money through a money transfer business rather than an app, the same logic applies: Moneysmart’s advice for any problem with an overseas transfer is to contact the bank or transfer business first. If you think your own bank, or the bank that received the money, contributed to your loss, Moneysmart says you can complain about it: first by making a formal complaint to your financial institution through its internal dispute resolution process, then, if you are unhappy with its response, to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.
Expect follow-up attempts. Scamwatch says scammers often come back for more, and that 1 in 3 scam victims have been scammed more than once; be especially wary of anyone offering to get your money back.
Help and reporting
Scamwatch. Report a scam. Your report helps warn others and take down scam websites, ads and contact details. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 000.
IDCARE, a national identity and cyber support service, can help you make a plan, for free, to limit the damage: 1800 595 160. idcare.org
Police. If you have lost money to a crime or scam, AUSTRAC points to ReportCyber.
Someone to talk to. Being scammed can happen to anyone, and Scamwatch suggests talking to family and friends, or to Lifeline on 13 11 14.
The other letters
Sources for this letter
- Scamwatch: Types of scams
- ASIC Moneysmart: What to do if you’ve been scammed
- Scamwatch: What to do if you’ve been scammed
- AUSTRAC: Frauds and scams
- Scamwatch: Business email compromise scams
- Scamwatch: Relationship scams
- Scamwatch: Unexpected money scams
- Scamwatch: Jobs and employment scams
- Scamwatch: Money recovery scams
- Scamwatch: Stop. Check. Protect.
- Scamwatch: Report a scam
- IDCARE
- ASIC Moneysmart: Sending money overseas