Facebook Now Competes With Western Union and MonneyGram
This means Scammers will soon be switching to Facebook Money Transfers and You Are Screwed!
Facebook recently launched a new money transfer service through Facebook Messenger. It’s not bad enough that they want to know everything about your whole life, now they want their fingers in your bank account too!
What this means is that you can easily transfer money via Facebook from anyone to anyone that has a profile on Facebook. You would think that would add a whole new layer of protection? Wrong. It is far worse than Western Union or MoneyGram.
W U & MoneyGram both require that money be transferred from a REAL PERSON to a REAL PERSON. The person that receives it must show valid identification. Not really true with Facebook. All they have to have is a debit card, ANYBODY’s DEBIT CARD. While in the case of real law enforcement they can trace the money transaction to a real person, you can’t. All you will know will be their Facebook profile name.
There is also NO RECOURSE once you send the money transfer with Facebook. You cannot do a refund request if it turns out to be a scammerScammer A Scammer or Fraudster is someone that engages in deception to obtain money or achieve another objective. They are criminals that attempt to deceive a victim into sending more or performing some other activity that benefits the scammer.. In that regard, it is just like Western Union and MoneyGram. There is only one Money Transfer Service that does protect you, and that is PayPal. Of course scammer victims know none of this, and don’t really care because their heads are in the clouds and obviously not thinking things through.
According to Facebook:
You can send or receive money in Messenger (ex: send your friend $10 for lunch or receive $500 from your roommate for rent) after you add a debit card issued by a US bank to your account and install the latest version of Messenger. Once you add a debit card, you can create a PIN to provide extra security the next time you send money.
You can send or receive money in Messenger if you and your friend:
- Live in the United States
- Are at least 18 years old
- Add a Visa or MasterCard debit card issued by a US bank to your accounts
- Set your preferred currency to US dollars
- Aren’t disabled from sending or receiving money on Facebook
You can send or receive money in Messenger using a Visa or MasterCard debit card issued by a US bank. We currently use debit cards so we can deposit the money you receive into your bank account. Keep in mind you should never give anyone your payment info in Messenger.
We currently don’t support the following payment methods:
- Credit cards
- Prepaid cards (ex: Google Wallet, H&R BlockBlock Blocking is a technical action usually on social media or messaging platforms that restricts or bans another profile from seeing or communicating with your profile. To block someone on social media, you can usually go to their profile and select it from a list of options - often labeled or identified with three dots ••• Emerald)
- Reloadable prepaid cards
- PayPal
- Government-issued bank cards for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment or disability
- Preloaded health care flexible spending cards
Once you’ve added a debit card issued by a US bank to your account, money is transferred right away, but your bank may take up to 5 business days to make it available to you.
If you’ve been sent money but it hasn’t appeared in your account after 5 business days, try contacting your bank by calling the number on the back of your debit card.
Can I cancel money after I send it in Messenger?
No, you can’t cancel money after you send it in Messenger.
If you accidentally send money to someone in Messenger, you can:
- Ask them to send the money back.
- Ask them to decline the money if they haven’t added a debit card to their account yet. If the payment isn’t accepted after 7 days, it’ll be automatically canceled.
- Require a password/PIN each time you send money so you can review your transaction before sending.
What information is shared when I send or receive money in Messenger?
When you send or receive money in Messenger, only the dollar amount and your name and profile photo are shared between you and your friend. After a payment is made, you can check your payment history to track who you’ve sent or received money from.
Our Advice
Periodically check the Facebook page of your family members, and look to see if they have payments enabled. If so disable it, unless you routinely send money to your own family. The reason Facebook did this was that they wanted to make it easy for parents to send money to children, Grandparents, etc. It is a great idea, that you can send money without fees for birthday presents, and more. Unfortunately, it is one of those “be careful what you wish for” scenarios, and the scammers will soon start using it once they understand that it is even more anonymous than Western Union.
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