Stranger in Asia wants to send me $3000 in Europe over Western Union because he “likes me”? [duplicate]
how are the ways he could scam me? There are hundreds of different ways the scam can progress ... broadly; "The first question I have to ask is, why would your ""friend"" even be considering something so ridiculous?  There are so many variations of the banking scam running around, and yet people can't seem to see them for what they are -- scams.   The old saying ""there's no such thing as a free lunch"" really comes into play here.  Why would anyone send you/your friend $3,000.00 just because they ""like you""?  If you can't come up with a rational answer to that question then you know what you (or your friend) should do -- walk away from any further contact with this person and never look back! Why?  Well, the simple answer is, let's assume they DO send you $3,000.00 by some means.  If you think there aren't strings attached then all hope is lost.  This is a confidence scam, where the scammer wins your trust by doing something nobody would ever do if they were trying to defraud you.  As a result, you feel like you can trust them, and that's when the games really begin.   Ask yourself this -- How long do you think it will be (even assuming the money is sent) before they'll talk you into revealing little clues about yourself that allow them to develop a good picture of you?  Could they be setting you up for some kind of identity theft scheme, or some other financial scam?  Whatever it is, you'd better believe the returns for them far outweigh the $3,000.00 they're allegedly going to send, so in a sense, it's an investment for them in whatever they have planned for you down the road. PLEASE don't take the warnings you get about this lightly!!!  Scams like this work because they always find a sucker.  The fact that you're asking the question in the first place means you/your ""friend"" are giving serious thought to what was proposed, and that's nothing short of disaster if you do it.   Leave it be, take the lesson for what it's worth before it costs you one red cent, and move on. I hope this helps. Good luck!" "It can be a money laundering scheme. The stranger gives you cash for free at first, then proposes to give you more but this time asks you to ""spend"" a fraction of it (like 80%). So on his side the money comes from a legitimate source.  So you do it because after all you get to keep the rest of it and it is ""free"" money. But you are now involved in something illegal.  Having money for which you cannot tell the origin is also something highly suspicious. You will not pay tax on it, and the fiscal administration of your country might give you a fine. Customs might also be able to confiscate the money if they suspect it comes from an illegal source."
"If it makes you feel any better, I now bank with a credit union. These WF assholes called me one day to tell me that someone had tried to withdraw $500 from my account and that I needed to sign up for a more secure account, of course with a $16 monthly charge. So I did what anybody would do... went to the bank and ask questions right? After I got there and mention the problem they told me that nothing was wrong with my account, that no transactions were attempted and even if they did attempt them and were canceled they would still show up but they didn't. Few minutes later I got another call from that guy and he was telling me that the problem was taken care of and that I didn't need to go to the bank. After that I was just suspicious. Basically what it came down to was that somebody was trying to set me up for accounts that I didn't ask for just so he can get promoted at my expense. They gave me a opportunity to report him but I didn't because I knew him personally, he was one of my ""friends"" and at the time he had two kids. I didn't want him to lose his job. I told him that what he did was completely fucked up and that you don't do that to people outside of WF. That same day I withdrew all my money. I still remember cutting the conversation short after WF tried to convince me all kinds of ways not to do that. I been with a Credit Union about 3 years now and so far so good." Why is the US still working with paper checks when Europe went digital about a decade ago? Tax filing is just another area in which the US is lagging. Modernizing it costs money, and the US is quite close to bankruptcy (as seen by the repeated government shutdowns).  Also, the US tax code is quite complicated. For instance, I doubt there's anyone who has a full and complete list of all allowed deductions.  Some comments wonder about multiple incomes. This doesn't require tax filing either. My local tax authority just sends me a combined statement with data from 2 employers and 2 banks, and asks me to confirm the resulting payment. This is possible because tax number usage is strictly regulated. SSN abuse in the US presumably makes this problematic. I went to the bank with my friends and told them that I saw the money in my account, that it's not mine, and that they should investigate and send it back to wherever it came from Right thing to do. Did you give this in writing? Do you have a stamped copy of the letter from Bank that they accepted your complaint? he has been calling with different phone number threatening me, saying that he will kill me, he will make sure I don't return to my country alive, and all. Lodge a formal police complaint. And also I have not heard from the bank at all. What should I do? Ensure that all your communication and follow-up is in writing. Even email is fine. But periodically send this via certified post with tracking number. Even when you call up the bank, keep a track of calls. After a day or two, send a email saying further to calls 1, calls 2, calls 3 etc you are still awaiting a response from Bank. Even after face to face visits, record all your follow-up and periodically send via email and after few email take a print of everything [even if its 10 pages] and send via certified mail. The reason it is very important to have a written trail is if things go wrong, Law enforcement can accuse you to be part of fraud/scam. It will be difficult to establish you were the one who complained about it. If not too difficult, change you phone numbers. Yes definitely open the new Bank Account; and don't give this to a random stranger on Internet. "You're not focusing in the right place and neither is anyone else on this thread because this isn't about the guy owning you money... This is about you not having enough money to pay your rent.  If rent wasn't due and the utility bills weren't piling up, you wouldn't be trying to justify taking money out of someone else's account. So let's triage this. Your #1 problem isn't hunting down Dr. Deadbeat's wallet. So put a pin in that for now and get to the real deal.  Getting rent paid. Right? OK, you said he called ""regarding a business I have"".  It's great that you have your own business.  Are you also employed elsewhere?  If you are, then you really should simply go to your employer and tell them you are in financial distress.  Tell them that right now you can't cover your rent or bills and you want to know if they can help, i.e. give you an advance from your paycheck, do a withdrawal/loan from a retirement savings that's in your employee benefits package, etc...  They will HELP YOU because it's in their best interest as much as it is in yours. Foregoing that, consider these thoughts... If you were to go your grandparents telling them what you told all of us here, and ask them the same ""do you think it's ok to..."", they would say something close to ""Absolutely DO NOT touch someone else bank account EVER! It doesn't matter what information you have, how you got it, or what you think they owe you. Do NOT touch it.  There's a legal system that will help you get it from them if they truly do owe it to you.""   I guarantee you this, withdrawing funds from an account on which you are NOT an authorized signatory is both financial theft as well as identity theft. Bonus if you do it on a computer, because you'd then be facing criminal charges that go beyond your specific legal district, i.e. you'd face criminal charges on a national level. If convicted, odds are you'd be sentenced within the penal guidelines of the Netherlands 1983 Financial Penalties Act (FPA). Ergo, you would have much much much less money in the very near future, which would feel like an eternal walk through the Hell of the court system.  Ultimately, over your lifetime you would be exponentially poorer than you may think you are now.  I strongly urge you to rebrand this ""financial loss"" as ""Tuition at the School of Hard Knocks"". There's one last thing... the train jumps the tracks for me during your story... This guy called you? Right?...  (raised eyebrow) What kind of business do you ""have""?  The sense of desperation and naiveté in your urgent need for money to pay rent. The fact that you are accepting payment for services by conducting a  bank transfer specifically from your clients account directly toward your own utility bills is a big red flag. Bypassing business accounting and using revenue for personal finances isn't legitimate business practices. Plus you are doing it by using the bank information of brand new client who is a TOTAL stranger.  Now consider fact that this total stranger was so exceedingly generous to someone from whom he wanted personal services to be rendered. Those all tell me that he's doing something he wants the other person to do for him and he doesn't want anyone else to know.  The fact that he's being so benevolent like a 'sugar daddy' tells me that he feels guilty for having someone do what he's asking them to do.  Perceived financial superiority is the smoothest of smooth power tools that predators and abusers have in their bag.  For instance, an outlandish financial promise is probably the easiest way to target someone who is vulnerable; and then seduce them into being their victim.  Redirecting your focus on how much better life will be once your problem is solved by this cash rather than focusing on the fact that they're taking advantage of you.  Offering to pay rates that are dramatically excessive is a way of buying a clean conscious, because he's doing something that will ""rescue you"" from a crisis. The final nail in the coffin for me was that he left so abruptly and your implied instinct suggesting his reason was a lie.  It sounds like he got scared or ashamed of his actions and ran out.  It paints a picture that this was sex-for-money Good luck to you." You didn't say why this person or his aunt would want to give you money. What service are you performing for them? Why would he want to give you money? Simple, practical tip: If somebody offers to give you money for nothing, or a large amount of money for a trivial amount of work, there's about a 99.99% chance that this is a scam. In real life, it is disappointingly rare for millionaires to pick random strangers and give them money for nothing. "I would make this a comment but I am not allowed apparently. Unless your continent blows up, you'll never lost all your money.  Google ""EUR USD"" if you want news stories or graphs on this topic.  If you're rooting for your 10k USD (but not your neighbors), you want that graph to trend downward." The worst thing about Wholesale Deals UK is that they won’t get back to you in time and their excuses are ridiculous. The suppliers listed there are equally arrogant. I hate how some brainy conmen use internet to trap people. I am rather stunned to see how low someone can get to make money. Business dealings work on fair rules and if the bridging body is so wicked, what good further contacts can do to you? That sounds pretty fishy to me.  I'm an IT professional - I can determine more about him if I have full access to the email headers.  Just give me your email and your password so I can log in and check the email he's using to contact you.