Sending Money from Australia to Nepal? Learn to Avoid Scams

For Nepalese migrants staying in Australia, sending money home is a way of ensuring their loved ones’ financial well-being. Not only does remittance provide financial stability for families, but it also contributes to economic growth and strengthens cross-border connections. Therefore, safe and efficient international transfers are essential for personal, business, and economic reasons. While digital platforms and online money transfer services have made the remittance process faster and more efficient, they’ve also introduced risks of scams and fraud. To help you avoid this scam and ensure secure remittance to Nepal, we’ve compiled useful tips in this blog.

Here Are the Tips to Avoid Scams While Sending Money to Nepal

Understand the Remittance Risks

In order to protect yourself from fraud, you first need to understand what these risks are. Scammers use different types of tactics; below are some of the most common ones:

• Fake Money Transfer Services: Fraudsters make perfect websites and applications by copying the legitimate service provider. They even show low transfer fees to attract remitters looking for a platform to send money to Nepal. However, once you sign up for their services and send funds, they will disappear without transferring your funds to Nepal.

• Impersonation Fraud: In this scam, individuals impersonate them to be family members or close friends and ask for immediate fund transfers due to some urgency. To appear genuine, they even hack social media handles or other profiles of the family members.

• Phishing Scams: Fraud companies send text messages and emails or get in touch through social media platforms. They may ask for the sharing of account credentials or personal information by creating urgency for payment confirmation or account verification.

• Advance Fee Scams: Sometimes scammers demand advance payments and upfront fees for a good exchange rate. However, they vanish as soon as they get the money without offering their remittance service. 

• Fake Receipts: In such a scam, the fraudster company would walk you through a similar remittance process as any genuine service provider. However, they would provide you with a fake receipt for the transaction completion, but in reality, no money is sent to the recipient. 

Research and Choose Reliable Service Providers

When opting for a service provider, make sure to pick a reputable service provider who has considerable experience working in the remittance industry. Dig up a little and check their business profile to know the experiences of customers who have used the platform for secure remittance to Nepal. Moreover, when you visit their website, look for the contact number and official address. Never trust a remittance company that has no physical address or contact details. 

Recognise Red flags

There are some signs that clearly depict there is something fishy, but we mostly overlook them. Here are some common red flags to watch out for:

• Unsolicited Requests: Be aware of the unsolicited money transfer requests or offers from service providers you don’t even know in the first place. 
• Poor Grammar and Spelling: Professional and reputed companies take special care of their brand and always ensure that their communications are free from errors. Thus, any email, message, or document with poor grammar and spelling could be from a scammer.
• Urgency and Pressure: Creating a sense of emergency or urgency is the most common trick by scammers. Thus, if you get an urgent payment request, either through a known contact, make sure to double-check and verify the request.

Verify the Recipient’s Identity

As the money needs to eventually reach the recipient, ensure that you are sending money to the right person and prevent fraud in Nepal remittance. When making a remittance order, confirm the recipient’s information, including their name, address, contact number, and bank details. Reach out to them to validate this information. Only proceed with the transaction once you are completely confident in the recipient’s identity. Additionally, stay in touch with the recipient to confirm that they have received the funds.

For enhanced security, check if the remittance service provider implements two-factor authentication (2FA) to protect your account and transactions. This measure can significantly reduce the risk of unauthorised access and help ensure the safety of your funds.

Stay away from so-good-to-be-true offers

Be cautious of offers that seem too good to be true, as they often are. This applies to appealing deals or unusually low transfer fees from remittance services. Scammers use these tempting offers to attract victims and gain their trust. They may promise incredibly low fees or high exchange rates, but once you engage with them, they can disappear with your money. To protect yourself, always verify that the offer and transfer charges are in line with typical market rates. Doing thorough research can help you avoid falling for such scams.

Additionally, always check for hidden fees or extra charges, as some fraudulent providers may advertise competitive rates but include unexpected costs.

Protect Your Personal Information

Always protect your personal as well as financial information! You should never share sensitive information such as your Social Security number, bank account details, or credit card numbers with anyone unless you are sure about the legitimacy of the request. 

Moreover, even if you are choosing a credible remittance service provider, always use strong passwords and never share them with third parties. In such cases, scammers can hack your profiles and steal your personal and financial information. Additionally, don’t click on unknown links or download attachments from unknown sources. These links can redirect you to malware that can hack your mobile or laptop and steal your personal information.

Use Secure Payment Methods

Always choose secure payment methods to prevent fraud in Nepal remittance. Consider the following:

• Opt for direct bank transfers, as they are more secure and also ensure you are using a reputable bank and verify the recipient’s account details.
• Although credit card payments are less safe than bank transfers, still they are good for protection against spam.
• If you use digital wallets, use services like PayPal or some other reputable one that ensures buyer protection and dispute resolution services.

Conclusion

Whether you’re a first-time remitter or a seasoned sender, anyone can fall into a remittance scam. Thus, you should always stay alert and recognise red flags, verify requests, and protect yourself from remittance fraud. However, one of the most important steps is to choose a reputed service provider for money transfers to Nepal.

RemitBy is the most trusted platform for hassle-free and secure remittance to Nepal from Australia. With strong authentication systems, fraud monitoring, and licenced operations, your transactions are secure from start to finish. Download the RemitBy app today!

Recommended Read: How To Avoid High Fees On Money Transfers To Nepal?