4 Easy Tips on Safe Ways to Send Money

Sending money online is a fast and effective way to transfer money abroad, but oftentimes there are scam sites out there that are just out to get your money. Knowing how to spot a scam is one of the surest ways to make sure you are getting the right service for a reasonable price without being duped. Read our four tips on the safest way to transfer money.

1. Pay Attention to Conversion Rates

It is simply not possible to get the global conversion rate for any money transfer that involves currency exchange. If you check on a search engine and the conversion rate is $1 USD to 17.25 of whatever currency you are sending – this is the “global rate” which is a special rate available only to banks. As a consumer, you will likely get a different rate which is slightly lower than the global rate. If the site you are thinking about using either promises the global rate, a rate that is higher, or a rate that is far lower and seems hard to believe, you are likely being duped. Most real online money transfer sites can offer comparable rates with a small markup on the global conversion rate. A site like sharemoney.com offers some of the best rates to consumers and even lets you compare their rates to that of other companies. Paying attention to conversion rates is one of the fastest ways to determine if you are using a good site and safely sending money.

2. Pay Attention to Fees

Money cannot be sent without some sort of fee attached. It is as simple as that. You have to have some sort of fee to cover the transfer, the processing, and the staff that make the transfer possible. It is for this reason that if you find a site that offers no fees at all, you are likely being duped. Sending money to Vietnam for instance is going to cost money, a site will often ask for a small fee to cover processing that often does not exceed $5.00 USD. This small fee will make sure your money gets there quickly and without any transfer scams.

3. Pay Attention to the Required Information

All sites are going to require that you provide a set amount or type of information to get the transfer underway and completed. The federal government requires money transfer companies to collect this information in order to process the remittance in a legal manner. Things like identifying information, address, credit card or debit card numbers, and bank account numbers are needed to make a successful transfer. For larger or frequent transfers, additional information may be required, such as your SSN or employment information. They ask for the information that is needed to complete the transaction successfully and nothing more. So as the safest way to send money online, stay away from money transfer sites that don’t even require your name or address – they are violating the law and are likely to be scammers.

4. Pay Attention to the Site Itself

The site and how it is set up also make a huge difference. A professional site will look that way. It will have security features like an SSL certificate (make sure the URL starts with https instead of http). It will have pertinent contact information, ways to contact the company, customer testimonials, a FAQ page, and enough information that you can double–check through a quick internet search. To avoid money transfer scams, look for reviews to see what other people have to say about the site. If you are ever in doubt, legitimate sites will often have hotlines or contact windows where you can talk directly to someone that works for the company so that they can answer your questions.

Sending money online is easy and safe these days. With the right site and the right information, you can send money to virtually any country in the world and do so knowing that your money is going to reach your recipient without any hiccups and without your bank account being cleaned out by scammers. There are plenty of great and safe online transfer companies out there, you just have to know how to find them.