Best way to receive money from overseas -- no PayPal

[effowe]

Someone in Poland is going to be sending me some money soon, and I need to know the best way to do this without using PayPal. I want something that can only be cashed by me, and is as good as money. Does a money order fit this criteria? Whatever it is, it has to be purchased in Poland, and cashable stateside.

 

[Farang]

Western Union through Nigeria to avoid tax issues, PM me for details.

 

[p2daall]

Escrow, money transfer. PM Farang for more details. Hes very legit. A+++

 

[effowe]

Thanks, wiseguys. Any *REAL* suggestions?

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Western Union through Nigeria to avoid tax issues, PM me for details.

Lol!

 

[13Gigatons]

1. Coffee Can filled with quarters
2. Large Bird with Homing skills
3. Good Weather
4. Bird runs off with quarters and blows it all in a Casino.
5. Damn Bird!!! D:

 

[Red Squirrel]

Any reason why you don't want to use paypal? That would be the safest and easiest way.

If not I know a guy in India who is going to be sending me money, I'll ask him how he's doing it. Did not get into details yet but it looks promising.

 

[gaidensensei]

+1 for Western Union, have dealt with in the past and it's almost fast and easy as paypal, the difference is that you transfer in real life.

But that has its downsides too, the money can technically get lost or someone else "steals" it. Not a frequent thing though, as it has yet to happen to me - out of probably 100+ overseas WU transfers.

Otherwise the last and most cumbersome option is the wired bank transfer. Never fails, I believe.

 

[ktehmok]

Another vote for Western Union. They're in almost every country in the world and have been doing money transfers since forever. They have received a bad rep in recent years due to the Nigerian email scams using the service. But the service itself is solid, especially between two parties that know & trust each other.

 

[effowe]

Any reason why you don't want to use paypal? That would be the safest and easiest way.

If not I know a guy in India who is going to be sending me money, I'll ask him how he's doing it. Did not get into details yet but it looks promising.

I don't trust the guy that is sending me the money. Long story short, he owed me some cash from over a year ago, and ended up skipping town due to whatever reasons. I have recently come back into contact with him and he seems to be willing to pay his debt.

Bottom line is, I don't want to get screwed again. I want something that is just like cash but can only be cashed by me. I am leary of using PayPal or WU due to the things that I have heard about the scammers.

Can I get scammed somehow by using WU? Do I basically just go to the WU with my transfer number and valid ID and receive money, end of deal?

 

[gaidensensei]

Bottom line is, I don't want to get screwed again. I want something that is just like cash but can only be cashed by me. I am leary of using PayPal or WU due to the things that I have heard about the scammers.

Can I get scammed somehow by using WU? Do I basically just go to the WU with my transfer number and valid ID and receive money, end of deal?

You can't really get scammed by physical WU transfers, unless he has ties behind the chains.

I know you are being very cautious, but in order to send money (in person) you have to physically be there at an affiliate ie, if you were sending money from here to Poland, you'd have to go to Wal-marts or Drug stores in the USA and personally hand cash over to obtain the transaction info and the jazz.

Unless you were handing over counterfeits, that's another story as well.

Now online WU transfers are another story, I have never dealt with that and would still prefer the original method I am accustomed to.

Edit: and yes, that's how you receive the money. Any WU affiliate will ask you for your ID, transaction info, and you're done.

 

[Red Squirrel]

How can you get scammed through paypal though? Im curious to know because I use it here and there, so if there's a trick or something I want to be aware of it.

 

[effowe]

Thank you gaidensensei, I will try the WU route.

How can you get scammed through paypal though? Im curious to know because I use it here and there, so if there's a trick or something I want to be aware of it.

I don't know the exact method, someone may be able to shed more light on it. I have just heard stories of the scams. For example, if their payment somehow bounces and you have received it already, you are therefore liable for that and they can withdraw the amount from your tied in account.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Thank you gaidensensei, I will try the WU route.



I don't know the exact method, someone may be able to shed more light on it. I have just heard stories of the scams. For example, if their payment somehow bounces and you have received it already, you are therefore liable for that and they can withdraw the amount from your tied in account.

That sounds scary. And paypal allows this? I'll wait for more details I guess, I'm really curious now.

 

[effowe]

That sounds scary. And paypal allows this? I'll wait for more details I guess, I'm really curious now.

A little googling turned up some results, the source isn't the most credible but here's the gist.

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1049646/nigerian-419-scams-now-hitting-paypal

The perpetuator (presumably a male) wanted to transfer funds out a Paypal account and convert them back into US dollars. All the victim needed to do was check his Paypal account and when the money arrived and send a significantly lower amount back via Western Union.

Our victim pinpointed Paypal's payment reversal policy as the loophole which enabled the scam to work. As the payment would be classified as 'services' rather than goods, there would be no proof that the the victim – who becomes the 'vendor' – provided any goods. So the 'buyer' – in this case the scammer – gets the money back.

In the meantime, the vendor has sent the dollars via Western Union and then finds himself stuck with no means of recourse.

So it's kind of a double whammy, them receiving more money than was necessary, and sending out the difference to the scammer. After all is said and done, the transfer gets reversed and they are out that amount + whatever they wired.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Holy crap so the scammer just needs to initiate a payment reversal? That's scary that they even have that feature. That's a huge flaw. That is good to know, I will be careful when using paypal on big transactions or maybe just avoid it altogether for such transactions.

 

[puffff]

You can't really get scammed by physical WU transfers, unless he has ties behind the chains.

I know you are being very cautious, but in order to send money (in person) you have to physically be there at an affiliate ie, if you were sending money from here to Poland, you'd have to go to Wal-marts or Drug stores in the USA and personally hand cash over to obtain the transaction info and the jazz.

Unless you were handing over counterfeits, that's another story as well.

Now online WU transfers are another story, I have never dealt with that and would still prefer the original method I am accustomed to.

Edit: and yes, that's how you receive the money. Any WU affiliate will ask you for your ID, transaction info, and you're done.

i have used online WU transfers and they are safe as far as i can tell. there is no difference for the person picking up the money. you give the transaction number, pick up the money, and leave. i dont see how you can get screwed.

 

[aircooled]

Western Union or Money Gram. I wouldn't use anything else for overseas money transfers.

 

[freegeeks]

why not just an international bank wire transfer? That's by far the safest way to do it. Do US banks use IBAN? If your bank account has IBAN then transferring money to another IBAN account is dead simple. The adoption of IBAN in Europe together with BIC/SWIFT code has been a blessing for international money transfers.

 

[Colt45]

How much cash? WU is a waste on small stuff.

 

[QueBert]

Western Union wire transfer is the best and safest way to send/receive money period. Don't let anyone tell you different. I worked at 2 stores that did WU and have sent/paid out thousands of transfers. Never had a single problem with fraud or anything. Depending on the country and the amount, WU isn't always cheap. But worth it for piece of mind. And a lot of overseas places are dirt cheap to send/get money from.