SECURITY TIPS & SAFE SENDING PRACTICES

Don’t over-share on social networks.

Thanks to social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, people are now putting unprecedented levels of personal information online and many aren’t doing enough to keep it away from would-be criminals. You can protect yourself by setting your privacy settings at the highest level and not sharing facts like your exact birth date, including the year, or information that could be used to answer your security questions such as those that include your mother’s maiden name.

Strong passwords can protect you.

Always safeguard your password and having a strong password is important. Once thieves locate your email address or account username, they’ll often try to guess your password–either manually or using a computer program–to try thousands of passwords until they find the correct one. To keep from becoming a victim of password theft, stay away from obvious passwords. It’s always best to make it a bit more complicated by using a combination of letter and numbers.

Be wary of internet friends.

It’s easy to make new friends on social networking websites but some may be on the prowl for information they can exploit or sell to scam you. Be wary when a new ‘best friend’ from the internet asks for personal information about you. Seemingly innocuous questions can lead to real trouble. We strongly suggest that you not share too much information – it can lead to potentially severe consequences.

Protect yourself from becoming a victim of “phishing”.

Internet and email users across the world are often targeted by an internet scam called “phishing”. Emails are sent by fraudsters intending to collect critical personal and financial information through a fraudulent email that appears to be from a legitimate bank. These e-mails look genuine and always contain a link to a “spoofed” website asking you to provide an update or confirm sensitive personal information. These emails are commonly called ‘phishing’ e-mails.

Protect your private information.

If you receive an email claiming to be from Intermex Wire Transfer asking for your financial or confidential information, please do not respond. In certain situations, we will ask you to provide further documentation to validate your account or to prove account ownership and funds availability. If you are ever concerned about the validity of an email, please forward it immediately to 1-866-999-3175 or email [email protected].
After forwarding the email, you should delete it from your inbox. In case you have already responded to the email providing confidential information/details pertaining to you, please ensure that you immediately reset your Intermex Online account Password. You are also advised to check your accounts for any suspicious transactions by calling our customer service center at 1-800-670-8611.
Intermexonline.com will never send you an email asking for your confidential or sensitive information like Username or Password

It’s everything you’ve hoped for and more. She’s beautiful, smart, witty, and you two just “get” each other. Sure, you’ve never met her in person — but that doesn’t matter. You’ve been talking to her for months, exchanged pictures, maybe even spoken on the phone. Sometime soon you’ll get to meet, but right now she’s on the other side of the world, no doubt doing humanitarian work. Then, there is a problem. She’s got an emergency and needs some funds. Not a lot, just a couple hundred dollars. Can you do that? And then the next week, someone got sick. You don’t mind covering that too, right? Guess what? That beautiful woman you fell in love with in Ghana? She’s probably a bearded man. He’s built your trust, and now he’s ready to take you for all your worth.

You got amazing news in your e-mail today. You’ve won the lottery! The grand prize is enormous, and you have already begun dreaming of what you might do with that money. You’re not quite sure that you remember playing the lottery, but oh well, you’ve already forgotten what you had for breakfast; it would be easy to forget such a thing. There’s only one catch: the sender needs some funds from you in order to cash out your prize. Just a small amount. And what’s $1,000 when you’re about to get millions?

Your grandchild is traveling in Mexico and has suddenly run out of money. She sends you an urgent e-mail or phone call saying she has an emergency and asks for money. You don’t remember her telling you she was going to travel to Mexico, but you’re worried for her safety and want to ensure she’s OK. So you send her a couple hundred dollars. What’s a couple hundred dollars when it comes to your grandchild’s safety?
Learn if you are being conned in a family emergency scam.

Lucky you! You just landed a new gig as a mystery shopper and have been assigned your first task. All you need to do evaluate the customer service of a local retail store. Sounds easy enough, right? There is just one catch. You were sent a check or money order with instructions to deposit it, yet you find out the amount is more than it should be. So, now you need to send money back to the sender. Sounds a little fishy, but you don’t think too much of it. Yet, as soon as you send your transaction, you learn that the original check was counterfeit and now you can’t get back the money you just sent. So now you’re out for both amounts.

Your fervent internet search for a great deal on your dream car has paid off! You found the car you want at a much lower price than what your local dealership is willing to offer. You contact the seller and he/she tells you to send either a down payment and/or the service fees for the application loan through a money transfer so you can avoid sales tax and get a better rate. He or she may even send you a receipt. Do not send a down payment or service fees via a money transfer. You won’t get your dream vehicle and you won’t get your money back

You’ve found a terrific price on an apartment rental online and decide to move forward with signing the lease. Only the leasee is actually a scammer who asks you to pay for the first month with a money transfer and that too-good-to-be-true apartment doesn’t actually exist. Be wary when shopping online and someone asks you to pay with a money transfer or even send a deposit to an individual or fake business. This can happen with any online purchases – a puppy, a vacation rental, a timeshare or a car. You name it. Do not wire money for internet purchases. You won’t get the merchandise and you won’t get your money back.

It’s Sunday morning, you’ve just poured yourself a fresh cup of coffee and are ready to sit down to breakfast, newspaper in hand. Turning to the classifieds, you notice an ad for a new, stainless steel refrigerator for a price that seems too good to be true. You think about how you’ve needed a new refrigerator for some time and decide to take the plunge. You purchase it. Sure, you’re a little skeptical because you’re buying it from a stranger and even stranger yet – they’ve asked you to transfer money to them for the purchase. Never use a money transfer to purchase something from a stranger. You may never get the item and you’ll lose your money

A recent natural disaster has left an entire nation reeling to rebuild in the aftermath of destruction and you want to do your part to help by donating money. Sadly enough, natural disasters such as floods, tornados or hurricanes often result in scammers staging “charitable” organizations that prey on well-intentioned people. Your heart goes out to these people who have just lost everything. You receive a call or a letter from a charitable organization telling you exactly where to transfer money. Be sure to never send money to people or organizations that you don’t know. Instead, contact the American Red Cross or another trusted organization that you know and that you understand how the funds are being collected and used. Chances are, if you transfer money to an organization you don’t know, your money will not go to the intended cause but rather into the pockets of scammers.
Find additional tips to ensure you are sending your money to a reputable organization

You receive a check or money order through the mail as an advanced payment for that awesome job you’ve just landed or for the merchandise you’re selling through an online ad. The only catch is that the amount of the check is more than it should be so the scammer tells you to deposit the check and then wire the amount they’ve “overpaid” back to them. Before you know it, you realize that the check or money order is counterfeit and – worse yet – you can’t get back the money you sent through the money transfer.

The elderly are prone to be exploited, abused and deceived in different forms such as physical, emotional, sexual, and economic. If you know or suspect that an elderly person is victim of abused, including financial abuse, the State of California requires that this abuse be reported.

• An elderly person enters your business in the company of an individual who threatens or forces the older person to make a transaction with the intention of stealing his money;
• An elderly person who appears to be fearful or nervous;
• An elderly person says that he has a new friend that will help him with his finances;
• An elderly person says that an individual mentioned that his or her child has been injured or is in jail and needs money;
• An elderly person who looks with physical abuse, such as beating or physical restraining.
To help prevent that an elderly person becomes a victim of financial abuse, ask your customer the following:

• Are you sending money to claim lottery or prize winnings, or on a promise of receiving a large amount of money?
• Are you sending money because you were “guarantee” a credit card or loan?
• Are you responding to an Internet or phone offer that you are not sure is honest?
• Are you sending money to someone you do not know or whose identity you can’t verify?

Are you sending money because you were “guaranteed” a credit or loan? If so, be cautious! It is highly unlikely that you would ever need to send money in order to receive a true credit or loan.

Money transfer scams take on many shapes and forms. What’s worse, fraudsters are continuously learning new tricks and techniques. It can be very difficult to know when a specific situation is in fact a scam. That’s why it’s very important to stay one step ahead of tricky scammers.
Consult the Federal Trade Commission’s portal of blog posts and articles on the most common and the most recent money transfer scams.

Identity theft occurs when someone assumes your identity to perform a fraud or other criminal act. Criminals can get the information they need to assume your identity from a variety of sources, including by stealing your wallet, rifling through your trash, or by compromising your credit or bank information. They may approach you in person, by telephone, or on the Internet and ask you for the information.

Where to Get Help If You Get Scammed
If you are the victim of a money transfer scam, first report the incident to your local police. Next, file a report with the various resources listed below. And always, if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to give us a call right away at 1-866-999-3175.

If you’ve been the victim of fraud, you need to report it. Here is a list of useful resources to aid you in reporting fraud.
1. Call the police. Start with your local police. All money transfer scams should be reported to the police.
2. Contact Intermex’s fraud department
We want to know about it so that we can do everything in our power to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Contact us by phone at 1-866-999-3715 or by e-mail at [email protected]
3. Federal Trade Commission
File a complaint online with the Federal Trade Commission or contact them by phone at 1-877-FTC-HELP.
4. Internet Crime Complaint Center (ICCC)
If you were a victim of fraud that began with contact through the internet, you should file a report with the ICCC.

Links to additional resources.
Scammers attack when you’re least expecting it and often prey on the most well-intentioned people. Educate yourself on how to protect you and your loved ones from unexpected fraud. Here is a list of several resources that provide helpful information to protect you and your family.
• Federal Trade Commission
• USA.gov
• National Consumers League (U.S.)
• Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre
• Scam Watch – Money Matters
• Australian Consumer Fraud Taskforce (ACFT)
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