The thing about Western Union is that payments are in no way traceable or accountable. The underlying system behind Western Union was crafted so people could send money to friends, relatives and trusted recipients ONLY. This is a well documented fact and Western Union even have it written on their website: “The service a great way to send money to someone you know and trust but if you need to send money to someone you don’t know well you may be putting yourself at risk of fraud.” In my opinion this sums up exactly why you shouldn’t be using Western Union as a means of expediting funds to someone you’ve never met.

Accepting a Wester Union payment requires no proof of identity but solely relies on a ‘pre-established code’. This code is what proves your right to the funds. So in essence, anyone who has this code in their possession is entitled to the funds connected to it. Anyone with the requisite recipient information can claim the funds as cash and vanish! This is the exact reason why so many scammers use Western Union as their payment method of choice. To my knowledge, the only known means of checking the identity of the person drawing the funds is to contact Western Union to see whether the branch had a CCTV record which could be passed to your local police department. This would require you to file a complaint first, and as the amounts are usually small, a lot of people simply don’t bother. It’s always worth it though, perhaps not to your own personal case but it could build up a picture of the scammer, if he pulls the same stunt on a lot of different people.

A Western Union transfer as I’ve described it sounds like a pretty horrible thing, but it isn’t. It’s great for the purpose which it has always been intended to serve. Worth noting however is that you should never, never, never use Western Union to send money to someone you’ve never met and isn’t directly related to.

PayPal scam gaining popularity
This scam is increasingly popular because of the way PayPal’s system is constructed. Dealing with virtual property, which is the category MMORPG accounts fall under, it is increasingly difficult for a seller to prove he’s actually sold and delivered the said goods. The scammers of course know this and exploit it to the fullest extent.

The way the scam works is as follows: Buyer finds a suitable account and makes arrangements with seller. Seller sends payment to buyer, buyer accepts and thus hands over the account information. Everything is blissfull for a while, as both parties have been satisfied. All of a sudden, the buyer checks his e-mail only to find a dispute has been opened by the buyer. The buyer claims he’s never received the goods he has paid for. PayPal tries to figure out what happened and requests the seller to submit proper documentation: Such as a freight form or other documentation which serves to prove the seller has filled his end of the bargain. Of course, having traded virtual property, no such documentation exists. The buyer ends up with an empty PayPal account and no MMORPG account either. At the same time, if the seller has transferred the funds directly to his bank account – and converted the money into a diferent currency – the seller will be stuck with the additional fees.

Little can be done to avoid it
With the regard to avoiding this scam, little can be done. Some people suggest taking screenshots and taking various countermeasures to avoid the situation. But having struggled with PayPal for a number of years, I know for a fact, that little can be done to avoid disputes opened by dishonest buyers.

I recommend demanding security in the shape of valid information on your buyer, before you even get to the PayPal transaction part of a trade. Everyone has a phone number and an address – and if they don’t, you can be sure you have a scammer on your hands.

Good luck out there and remember – You can avoid a lot of similar headaches by buying my book.