6 People to Whom You Should Never Wire Money

You probably know that where opportunity exists, con artists will take advantage. Unfortunately, the rise of digital money movement services, like Venmo and Zelle, has offered plenty of opportunity to unscrupulous folks who wish to take advantage. The services themselves are legitimate, but some of the people requesting money transfers are not!

If you receive an email or instant message that includes a request for payment, never instantly transfer the money without investigating the legitimacy of the person or group who sent the message. In particular, you should never send many to any of the following people or organizations:

Government agencies like the IRS or Social Security (they don’t contact people online)
Someone from your bank or another financial institution, telling you that your account has been compromised
Anyone who instructs you to send money to “yourself” for some reason
Those who claim to be cryptocurrency websites or salespeople, unless you’ve independently verified them
Those asking you to make a purchase outside of a real online marketplace like Amazon or Etsy
Anyone who plays on your sympathy and asks for money due to a “hard luck” story

One of the main things to remember about financial scams is that they seek to quickly incite and then manipulate your emotions. So if a message makes you feel sorry for someone, guilty about something you supposedly did, fearful of a consequence, or hope to get rich quick, it is likely a part of a financial scam.

If you do feel concerned about the possibility of a debt, for example with the IRS or Social Security, don’t attempt to clarify the issue through email. Call that agency and speak with a representative who can assist you.

We aim to help you keep all of your assets safe and secure. Let’s discuss your financial habits at our next meeting, and we can offer more tips that will benefit you.

About the Author: Mark Roberts

In addition to managing clients’ money and giving investment and diversification advice, Mark offers something that “the other guys” don’t - a unique approach to Retirement Tax Strategies and distribution. Time and time again, Mark meets with new clients who tell him they have a great relationship with their financial advisor but have never been offered information on this kind of approach to securing their financial futures. Mark has taken this feedback to heart and works tirelessly to ensure that his strategies focus on taxes and distribution. Mark started selling insurance for a major insurance company right out of high school to help put himself through college. After graduating with a degree in finance, he dove into estate planning on the financial side to set himself apart from other financial advisors. However, as changes were made to estate tax laws over time, Mark shifted his focus to income tax strategies. Mark’s philosophy is “the blue prints are more important than the wall paper or carpet.” The wall paper and carpet represent products like investments and insurance policies, whereas the blue prints represent the strategies. Once strategies that truly fit the client’s needs are put in place, our focus can shift to providing you with the right products. According to Mark, “It doesn’t matter what carpet we use if the walls are not in the right place.” Our approach to money management is designed to generate the largest alpha (quality) with the lowest standard deviation and beta (risk). By doing this, we help provide clients with the highest return on the lowest risk. Generating income for our retirees is also very important. Because withdrawing money from your portfolio hurts the account rather than helping it, our goal is to design income strategies to harm the portfolio the least making the money last longer.

6 People to Whom You Should Never Wire Money

6 People to Whom You Should Never Wire Money

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About the Author: Mark Roberts