What is Advance Fee Fraud?
Understanding Advance Fee Fraud
Advance fee fraud is where scammers persuade you to make upfront payments for further financial gains, such as loans or income.
If this has happened to you, please get in touch with us by tapping Help on the bottom right of the app, search for "Reporting a scam", tap the help article and then "Report Fraud" and complete the steps in the form.
Here’s some more info on how this scam works:
The fraudster will promise you a significant share of a large sum of money, in return for a small up-front payment. Once you have made the first payment it’s likely they’ll invent more fees you’ll need to send.
Here are some examples.
A fee to release the funds after completing a loan application
A fee to cover the costs of background checks or a training programme for a job you’ve recently been offered (that may not exist)
A fee to receive money you weren’t expecting, possibly from a long lost relative
A fee to receive money from selling items online
Topping up an account to complete job tasks in order to receive your income
In all these cases, they’ll always ask you to make the payment via bank transfer directly to them or via cryptocurrency. This is a red flag for fraud. For more advice on how to keep yourself safe from fraud, head to monzo.com/fraud.
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