Protecting our customers and safeguardingtheir money is our main priority at Altras International Ltd. Our goal is to educate consumers on ways to protect their personal information and safeguardtheir money.
Our help to you to protect yourself from fraud:
You work hard for your money and you want a company you can rely on when it comes to sending your money to friends and family. That is why we want to help you protect yourself from fraud. In this section, you will find informative tips and other useful material to stay informed and help reduce your chances of falling victim to scammers.
Lower your chances of falling victim to fraud by checking out these eight things you should never do when using a money transfer service:
- Never send money to people you have not met in-person.
- Never send money to pay for taxes or fees on lottery or prize winnings.
- Never use a test question as an additional security measure to protect your transaction.
- Never provide your banking information to people or businesses you do not know.
- Never send money in advance to obtain a loan or credit card.
- Never send money for an emergency without verifying that it is a real emergency.
- Never send funds from a check in your account until it officially clears-which can takeweeks.
- Never send a money transfer for online purchases.
Tips to help you to avoid falling victim to relationship scam:
- Only send money to people you personally know and trust and, in this case, have met in person. Be especially cautious with people you meet online, even if you correspond with them via email or phone.
- Be wary of anyone who asks you to leave the dating website immediately to continue your conversation through email or IM, says the Federal Trade Commission in their guide to avoiding online dating scams. This allows fraudsters to carry out their scam without the dating site having a record of your encounter.
- Be cautious if someone claims to be from the United Kingdom but is currently overseas. Fraudsters often use offshore accounts, making it more difficult for authorities to track them down and catch them.
- Never give your banking information to unknown individuals or businesses.
- Verify every emergency before sending money.
- Fraudsters can trick their victims in a variety of ways. Sometimes they instantly express feelings of love and other times they lead their victims along. No matter how much your relationship might seem like the real thing, you should be suspicious if someone starts asking for information like credit card or Social Security numbers.
Tips to help you to a void failing victim to the employment scam:
- Be sceptical of any job offer where you must pay money up front.
- Never send money from a deposited check until it officially clears. Just because funds are available does not mean a check has cleared-by law, banks must make deposited funds available within a few days, but it can take weeks to uncover a fake check.
- If you are communicating with anyone by email, check for common red flags like poor grammar, misspellings, character/spacing mistakes, and excessive capitalization. Look for use of generic email addresses rather than specific business email addresses.
- Be cautious when dealing with people who say they currently live overseas or are out of the country on business. Scammers tell victims this to explain why they cannot meet in person. Also be wary if they prefer to communicate via email only.
- Do your research. Check with your local consumer protection agency, state Attorney General’s Office, and the Better Business Bureau to see if the company you are dealing with has any complaints filed against them.
Tips to help you to avoid falling victim to the lottery – prize scam:
- Never send money to pay for taxes or fees on lottery or prize winnings. Legitimate sweepstakes do not require you to pay or buy something to enter or improve your chances of winning, or to pay taxes or processing fees to get your prize.
- Never give your banking information to unknown individuals or businesses.
- Never withdraw or send funds from a check in your account until it officially clears, which can take weeks.
- Do your research. Check out the company that contacted you with local law enforcement or a consumer protection agency like the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, or other trusted sources.
- Read the fine print legitimate offers clearly disclose the terms and conditions of the promotion, including the rules, how the entry process works, and your odds of winning.
- Do not play the foreign lottery. It is illegal.
Tips to help you to avoid falling victim to over-payment scam:
- Know who you are doing business with; independently confirm your buyer’s name, street address, and telephone number.
- Do not accept a check or money order for more than your selling price. If the name on the check does not match the name of the person you are dealing with, immediately end the transaction.
- Consider dealing in cash and in-person with local buyers. If this is not feasible, ask for a check drawn on a local bank so you can visit a local branch or office to determine if the check is legitimate. Or consider an alternative method of payment like a trusted escrow service or online payment service.
- If a buyer insists that you wire money, do not. Scammers pressure people to use wire transfer services because the money’s picked up in cash and impossible to trace afterward.
- Fake checks or money orders play a starring role in overpayment scams, advance fee and prepayment scams, mystery shopping scams, lottery prize scams, and more. Don’t use these funds until your bank officially clears them and remember Banks must make deposited funds available within a few days, but it can take weeks to uncover a fake check.
- Resist pressure from a buyer to act immediately. If the buyer’s intentions are good, he or she will wait for the check to clear to finish the transaction.
- If you are communicating with anyone by email, check for common red flags like poor grammar, misspellings, character/spacing mistakes, and excessive capitalization.
Tips to help you to avoid falling victim to the rental property scam:
- If you are communicating by email, check for common red flags like poor grammar, misspellings, character/spacing mistakes, and excessive capitalization.
- Most renters want to see the property before they commit; if they do not, chances are you are dealing with a scammer. Another red flag is if they have an unusually strong sense of urgency to get you to rent or rent your property to them very early in communications with them.
- Be cautious when dealing with people who say they currently live overseas or are out of the country on business. Scammers tell victims this to explain why they cannot meet in person. Also be wary if they prefer to communicate via email only.
- Do notsend money to anyone you do not know and trust, especially people you have never met in person.
Tips to help you to avoid falling victim to the advance fee scam:
- Be sceptical of any offer where you must pay money up front. Walk away if you are asked for money immediately, especially if it is for “insurance,” “processing,” or “paperwork.”
- If you are communicating with anyone by email, check for common red flags like poor grammar, misspellings, character/spacing mistakes, and excessive capitalization. Look for use of generic email addresses rather than specific business email addresses.
- Do your research.
- Be wary of businesses that operate using a post office box and do not have a street address.
- Check out the company that contacted you with local law enforcement or a consumer protection agency like the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, your State Attorney General’s Office, or other trusted sources.
- Check the company out independently by getting its phone number from a phone book or directory assistance and calling to confirm they are who they say they are.
- If you are checking out a lender or loan broker, they are required to register in the UK.
In our efforts to educate consumers about fraud, Altras International Ltd is planning to develop an educational website that contains information and tips on how to protect you from being victim of fraud. Should you require more information about fraud prevention please contact us by phone or e-mail as mentioned below.
Contact Us
Tel: +44 1217730218
Email: info@altras.co.uk