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Fraud Awareness

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At Money Services within the Kroger Family of Companies, protecting you from fraud is something we feel passionately about. Scams are an unfortunate reality when sending money and their actions can take a financial and personal toll on you, should you fall victim to them.

But, we’re here to help. We want to ensure you can send money safely, by helping you learn how to spot potential criminals before they strike.

Fraud

That’s why we have resources that contain:

To help identify the telltale signs of a scam.

Giving you the tools to prevent fraud happening to you and your family.

Official agencies and bodies you can report a scam or fraudulent activity to.


How to report fraud

If you’ve unfortunately been a victim of fraud or have seen evidence of it during one of your transactions, it’s easy to report.

You can:

  • Call your local police authority. They will normally ask you for details about the fraud and may ask you to provide evidence of the transaction.

  • Contact your state consumer protection office. They can conduct investigations into fraudulent activity and potentially prosecute those guilty of violating consumer laws.

  • Report to the federal government. Find the relevant agency using the federal agency directory to inform them of a scam.


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Fraud FAQs

We answer commonly asked questions about fraud and how we ensure our services are as safe as possible.

If you’ve been the victim of a scam online, contact your local police authority and provide as many details of the scam as you can. Then, you can report any fake websites you visited or emails you have received to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). If you think this is an international, rather than a US online scam, please report this through econsumer.gov.

If money has left your bank account, without you approving it, this could be a sign you have been a victim of money fraud. While if an unknown person has asked you to send money to them, and you have, this may be a scam, and you will need to report this.

You can contact your local police authority and provide evidence of the fraud that has taken place. You can also report it to your state consumer protection office. You can inform the federal government about fraud too. Simply contact the Federal Trade Commission to file a scam online.

There are many common consumer scams to look out for when sending money.

  • Being asked to send money to an unknown person or business, sometimes as an emergency.
  • Someone asking you to deposit a check they have sent, then telling you to send them back some of that money.
  • A person or business contacting to say you have won a prize draw, then asking you to send money to cover fees and taxes, to claim your winnings.

Online money transfers are safe, as long as you know who you are sending the money to and the exact amount. It’s much more secure to make a transaction through an approved money transfer service, bank or credit union, who will have their own security protocols to keep money transfers safe. How does Money Services prevent fraud?

Money orders are a safer way of sending funds, compared to sending cash in the mail. They are secure for both buyers and sellers. That’s because the name of the recipient and institution that issued the money order are recorded. Because you write this on your money order form, it makes it harder for fraudsters to amend this and steal money.

At Money Services, we keep your money transfers safe and ensure you can send and receive funds securely. We will always ask for ID whenever someone sends or collects money, whether by check, money order or online transfer. So should any fraudulent activity occur, we have a record of that transaction.

Gift cards should never be used as a way to pay bills. If someone asks you to purchase a gift card to help a relative in need or someone else, it’s probably a scam. Only ever buy a gift card to give as a present to someone you know and through a trusted provider.

Our biggest tip to avoid fraud is to only transfer money to friends, family members or businesses that are legitimate. Never make a money transfer to:

  • Claim lottery/prize draw winnings
  • Pay federal, state or local taxes
  • Donate to charity, especially non-registered organizations
  • Resolve immigration matters
  • Pay for a purchase already made online

If you have been the victim of an online scam, there are specific agencies, along with your local police, that you can report it to.

  • Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). You can report fake websites, emails or evidence of malware that scammers have installed on your device.
  • Econsumer.gov. This organization is specific to international, non-US fraud – for example, if you have been scammed by someone from another country.
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