1

My friend asked me to transfer money from my bank account to her overseas' family because she has reached her limit of overseas remittance. She transferred AUD$4,000 to my account and asked me to transfer this money for her via an online APP. I'm not sure if this is legal or not. But I do feel something wrong with it. Could you please help me to figure out if it is against the law? I would appreciate it.

Danni Ma
  • 11
  • 2
  • 5
    What governing body set the overseas remittance limit? Is this a government limit literally stopping the next transfer, is this some tax issue, is it the bank that would charge a different fee? – quid May 22 '19 at 01:19
  • 21
    Is this a real friend, meaning someone you have known in person (in real life, not on line) for a long time? – DJClayworth May 22 '19 at 01:30
  • 3
    Also, what country are you in and what country is the destination for the money? – DJClayworth May 22 '19 at 01:31
  • 10
    This smells like a scam. I wouldn’t send a dime anywhere. And I wouldn’t even trust the $4k has been legitimately deposited, either. If it’s a scam, that deposit will bounce and you’ll be on the hook for any withdrawals. – Rocky May 22 '19 at 03:47
  • 1
    Not a dupe (yet). That question is about a casual acquaintance and Moneygram limits and repeated transfers. –  May 22 '19 at 10:15
  • Too many unknown factors in the question - voting to close as unclear. –  May 22 '19 at 10:16
  • You might get into a serious trouble if the receiver has issues or links to criminal org or activities. – Bakhit May 22 '19 at 09:17
  • Danni - with no additional details, this question is on track for closure. – JTP - Apologise to Monica May 22 '19 at 11:22
  • 4
    I do wish that people on the interwebs would stop using "friend" as a synonym for "some random person I've never actually met who's trying to con me out of a lot of money". – brhans May 22 '19 at 11:25
  • 1
    @brhans: "Using A as a synonym for B" would mean that the people who say A intend to express the meaning of B. That is not the case here. – hmakholm left over Monica May 22 '19 at 12:14
  • @brhans - Not going to happen. And not the best place to discuss it. That said, I agree with you. We need a word for the "friend we only know online". – JTP - Apologise to Monica May 22 '19 at 12:46
  • 1
    @brhans These people believe that they are their friends. That is how these scams typically are successful. I assume the scammers are good at finding the people who are quick to consider them friends. That makes them an ideal target. – JMac May 22 '19 at 13:21

1 Answers1

5

The more important question: What kind of friend is this? Is this someone you see several times a week in person? Or is this a person on the internet that you have nice conversations with, but who you have never seen in your life?

It is a typical scam that someone transfers money into your account, you send it elsewhere, and a week or two later your bank tells you there was something wrong with the original transfer and takes the money back - you are out of pocket by $4,000, with no chance of getting that money back, and your "friend" will never contact you again.

It is of course perfectly legal to send your hard-earned cash to a scammer. Just like it is legal to give the money to strangers in the street, burn it (in most countries), or use it as toilet paper.

gnasher729
  • 23,016
  • 9
  • 42
  • 71
  • 3
    I think your last paragraph could be potentially misleading. It's not illegal to send your hard-earned cash to a scammer. It might be illegal to send someone else's stolen cash to a scammer; because at that point there is a paper trail tied to you. Obviously the cash doesn't even need to be stolen, and you could be unknowingly laundering it, which still presents legal issues. – JMac May 22 '19 at 13:24