What are the easiest, safest methods to send money to someone?
So I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty good at this adulting thing but I’ve never sent money to someone. Friends will talk about sending each other monety to split the cost of dinner or concert tickets or whatever but I always just pay someone in cash because I’m kind of paranoid about screwing this up and losing the money somehow. How can I send money to someone super safely?
Venmo, PayPal, and Zelle are perfectly safe to use but you must confirm that you’re sending money to the right person. There are a lot of scams where someone will say, “Hey, send me your Zelle. Give me your email. I'm going to send you some money for this thing.” And then they'll reply right back, “Hey, it wouldn't go through because it says you have to send me $300 first before it can go through. Check your email.” And they'll send you a fake email that makes it sound really urgent and scary. But if you’re using those apps to send money to someone you know, they’re perfectly safe.
In terms of scams or unsafe ways to send money, I’ve seen a lot of wire fraud in my day. Strangers will tug on someone’s heartstrings, come up with an emotional story, or pretend to be your boyfriend or girlfriend and convince them to send money via wire. So, wiring money is 100% an option, and it’s safe, but you must know precisely who you’re sending it to.
In terms of scams or unsafe ways to send money, I’ve seen a lot of wire fraud in my day. Strangers will tug on someone’s heartstrings, come up with an emotional story, or pretend to be your boyfriend or girlfriend and convince them to send money via wire. So, wiring money is 100% an option, and it’s safe, but you must know precisely who you’re sending it to.
Venmo is also the one my friends and I use! Haven't had any problems so far. If you're concerned about safety, just make sure you confirm the handle or username of the person you're sending money to or receiving money from and you should be good. There's also a profile picture that you can often use to visually confirm that you know the person you're interacting with.
If you're worried about messing up somehow and losing all your money, then when you connect your app of choice to your bank account, choose an account that doesn't have that much money in it. That way, in the scenario that someone gets into your account (which likely won't happen), you'll just lose that small amount of money
Haven't heard anyone mention Apple Cash, Cash App, or Google Pay yet and those are also all good options
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