KNOWLEDGE CENTER

Transfer Scams: Verify Who Is Really Asking You to Send Money

Payments & Moneyen-NG

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Understand the issue before you decide what to do.

This lesson is designed to explain the subject in practical terms so that you can understand not only what the risk is, but why it matters, how it can appear in real situations and what you can do to reduce your exposure.

Read the explanation carefully before acting on a suspicious message, request, transaction, account notification or other security-related situation.

FULL LESSON

Understanding the subject

Take your time with this explanation. The goal is not simply to recognise a warning sign, but to understand what is happening and make a safer decision when you encounter it.

Transfer scams use messages, calls or social accounts to persuade people to send money to an attacker or an unauthorized recipient.

BE CAREFUL WITH EMERGENCY REQUESTS

A request claiming that a friend or relative urgently needs money should be independently verified.

DO NOT RELY ON A PROFILE ALONE

A familiar name or photograph can be copied, and a genuine account can be compromised.

VERIFY THE DESTINATION

Check the beneficiary details carefully before sending. If the destination has changed unexpectedly, verify the change through a trusted channel.

DO NOT LET PRESSURE SKIP VERIFICATION

Scammers may discourage questions or insist that payment must happen immediately.

IF YOU ALREADY SENT THE MONEY

Contact the relevant bank or payment provider promptly through its official channel and preserve transaction information. Report the incident through the appropriate process.

WHY THIS MATTERS The faster a fraudulent transfer is identified, the sooner appropriate recovery or protective steps may be available.

VERIFY BEFORE YOU TRUST. Confirm both the requester and the destination before transferring money.

APPLY WHAT YOU LEARNED

Turn understanding into a security habit.

Knowing the definition is only the beginning. The real value of cybersecurity education is being able to recognise the situation and make a safer decision when it happens to you.

How should you use what you learned?

Understanding a cybersecurity concept is useful only when it changes how you make decisions. When you encounter a similar situation in real life, slow down and identify what is being requested before you respond.

Ask yourself who is making the request, what they are asking you to do, what information or access is involved, and whether the request can be independently verified.

Do not allow urgency, fear, authority, familiarity or the promise of a reward to replace independent verification.

What if I still do not understand something?

Cybersecurity concepts can sometimes involve technical terms or situations that are difficult to interpret from a single lesson. If something is unclear, do not guess when the decision could affect your money, identity, account access, device or sensitive information.

You can seek further guidance through the consultancy channel. Explain the situation clearly, but never include passwords, OTPs, PINs, recovery phrases, private keys or other authentication secrets.

Use the consultancy form →

THE VERIFY BEFORE YOU TRUST PRINCIPLEVERIFY BEFORE YOU TRUST.

A convincing message, familiar name, professional appearance or urgent request is not proof of legitimacy. Verify the important facts independently before taking an action that could be difficult to reverse.

← Continue learning Browse Knowledge Center →