A man I have been talking to online for a few months wants me to link our bank accounts. He said his account was hacked and is froze while the bank is investigating it. Meanwhile he needs to send child support for his daughter and is unable to do so. He wants me to link my bank account with his so he can transfer me the money from his savings account and I can send it to his daughter. Is this a scam? I've never met this man but have face timed him a few times. It's hard to know who to trust.
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581: Child support is not sent to the child, it's sent to the parent who has custody of the child. 2: If linking his account to yours enables him to bypass the bank's restrictions on his account (unlikely), then he could do the same with his ex to send money to her for "child support". There is no child. You're being asked to be money launderer / mule.– brhansCommented Jun 18 at 14:24
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100"It's hard to know who to trust". It's pretty simple - if anyone on the internet is asking for your bank information, do not trust them.– Nuclear HoagieCommented Jun 18 at 15:55
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70If you ever think "Am I getting scammed?", assume yes.– Tim SparklesCommented Jun 18 at 17:58
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43The site should have a bot that answers "yes" whenever someone asks something along the lines of 'is this a scam'?– JimmyJamesCommented Jun 18 at 19:44
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15@NuclearHoagie This kind of thing happens IRL too. The list of people you should have access to your bank account or link accounts with is very short. Typically: no one. Maybe: spouse, one of your adult children. I can't think of anything else.– JimmyJamesCommented Jun 18 at 19:49
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8 Answers
Yes, this is a scam. The payment to you will bounce, and the money you sent to the 'daughter' will be long gone.
This seems to be a near-duplicate of the following scam:
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10Alternatively, depending on how exactly these bank accounts are "linked", he might try to simply drain all the money from OP's account into his own.– MJ713Commented Jun 19 at 14:10
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"The payment to you will bounce" couldn't OP just wait until the money is confirmed spendable? Commented Jun 20 at 19:28
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3@SkySpiral7 this basically never happens no matter how long you wait. The account could have been stolen, in which case the bank will revert all outgoing transfers. But since the OP would be voluntarily transferring money out of their own account, the bank would likely be unwilling to help them.– njzk2Commented Jun 20 at 20:15
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@njzk2 so then this scam could also be stopped by OP saying "I won't send my money until I can confirm the money you sent me" which never happens and thus OP never sends money. Assuming that nothing bad happens from just linking the accounts (which is why they shouldn't be linked). Commented Jun 23 at 2:33
How does this request make any sense? "My bank account is frozen and I can't send money to my daughter, but let me send money to you, and you can send money to my daughter." If his account is frozen how is able to send money to you?
Unfortunately this is a very obvious scam, possibly a variant of "pig butchering", where criminals spend months setting the hook, and then empty bank accounts.
Don't have any more contact with this person.
answered Jun 18 at 0:42
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2how is able to send money to you -> "from his savings account". Which leads to the very obvious: if he can transfer money form his savings account to OP then he can also transfer money from his savings account for his daughter.– fdomn-mCommented Jun 21 at 6:42
I have seen this same topic "Have I been scammed" dozens of times now, and every single time, it's an obvious scam.
The first thing that clues you into there being a scam in play, is the suspicion of there being a scam. If you have to ask that question, the question is undoubtably yes.
- Am I being scammed after paying almost $10,000 to a tree company not being able to withdraw my profit without paying a fee
- Am I about to be scammed?
- Am I being scammed?
Just a quick list of similar topics asking if they are being scammed.
Again, your first instinct that there is a scam that is going on is good. Follow it and distance yourself from the scam. If you wish to know more, the other answers have information about how this particular scam works. Getting you to ignore your instincts to trust someone you don't really know is how a scam artist works. Always ask yourself:
- Why should I trust this person?
- Do I really know this person to give them my information or my money?
- Do they really need this information to do what I want them to do?
These questions will help ground you in reality and break the spell that a scam artist tries to weave.
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Interesting. When I searched I couldn't find one. Still I only advocated to trust your instincts as doing so in almost every case this will lead to at least protecting yourself. Commented Jun 20 at 17:23
Even assuming that it is not scam, you have another reason to not trust the person:
Their account has been hacked.
Do you really want to trust someone who most likely has problems with securing access to theirs banking? Or even giving them access to your resources?
Of course this is a scam. You already realise that, otherwise you wouldn't ask here. So I'm assuming you are really interested in finding out what the scam is and why you feel it is a scam.
Indicators of scam:
- Banks do not generally freeze your bank account for any considerably length of time.
- He gives suspiciously no details about what "hacked" means.
- Not sending child support in a highly unusual situation would be solved with a simple phone call or if the ex doesn't trust him at all, a letter from the bank.
- He would definitely be in the possession of such a letter because if the bank froze his account for more than a day or so, they would send a letter, not just an e-mail.
- "linking bank accounts" makes absolutely no sense at all in this context.
- If his account is frozen, how would he send money to you?
- Indeed, if his account is frozen, how can he "link" another account to it?
- If he can send money to you, why can't he send it to his daughter?
- The answer to these two questions is not "linking bank accounts".
- He is asking a stranger whom he's only met online to help out in a delicate situation? Doesn't this guy have a best buddy, family members or other people? You'd think a stranger you only know online is far down the list of people you'd ask if you were in this situation.
- Unless it's a scam. Then a person you've only met online is the first person you would ask.
What is the scam?
Harder to say without the details, but I see two possibilities:
- You send the money but never get reimbursed. For a day or two there will be excuses, possibly having to do with the "frozen" account of his (which almost certainly isn't his but the account of someone else he scammed).
- Depending on what exactly "linking bank accounts" means, it could well be used to empty your account.
What to do?
Either, you block that person and never talk to them again. Walk away and don't look back. Easy, foolproof, over and out.
Or, you tell them sure, wait a day, I need to check with my bank, then go to the police and tell them they have a chance to stop a crime in progress and work with them to identify and lock this fucker up. Chances are high he's actually abroad and has maybe a money mule stateside, but you never know, it's worth a try. More work, but more positive karma.
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13. The OP is unknowingly aiding money laundering. Commented Jul 9 at 18:28
how would he send you money if his account is frozen? if he can send you money, he can send it to his kid. if it's frozen, linking an account won't unfreeze it. Total scam and so obvious.
On top of the other detailed answers, think of this (in future):
This situation is like he has a car full of money that he can't get into (why is unimportant). Chaining your car to his will not unlock his car, it will still be full of money AND locked. Since chaining your car to his can't change anything, it is therefore a scam.
When a bank freezes an account, there must be a reason: Illegal activity (Someone's attempting to access the account and the owner called the bank, Cheque kiting), court order, bounced checks, overdrawn, suspicious activity, money laundering, etc...
The frozen account can be un-frozen when the problem is resolved, and the owner can't not know the problem because the bank must tell him. If there's money in the account, that means the problem is related to a problem caused by the person's behaviour. This is a hint that there's something else wrong with this situation, because banks can't freeze an account "because it's Tuesday".
If linking your account to his would actually work, why can't he link his account to his daughter's account "directly"? Why does he need you as a middleman? So yes, scam.
answered Jun 24 at 21:04
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