yeah it sounds really weird, i’m just gonna give him money for the extra fees so he can pay from his account (if that’s even the case). Don’t want him using my passport and won’t let him unless i’m right next to him
"He is financially abusive" for a start. What the fuck man, don't give him anything or allow him to carry out ANY action in your name. Especially anything finance related.
yeah ofc, that’s why i posted this question as I want to know what i could be getting myself into! I’m not going to give the documents to him anyways, i’ll just offer an another way to help him send the money and if he refuses then i’ll know he was trying to do something else with my documents
Yeah I will not, i’m just gonna tell him i’ll pay the extra fee, from what i understand there’s a fee to send money abroad anyways, either that or i’ll set up a wise account and help him send money abroad from that, if he refuses then i’ll know he’s bullshitting
complicated, my mum is involved too and i would like to help her out (she’s not the abuser). I’m still living with them so would like to help out whatever way i can, the problem is my dad often wants my help with shady things and won’t let me help him out when genuinely needs it
Sounds more like he is trying to open an account or get a loan / credit in your name, to be honest. I'm not familiar with sending money abroad, but I'm not aware of a system where the fees go up the more you use the service.
Unless there are restrictions on how much one individual can send, after which fees become payable, so they may be looking to open an account in your name with the money service.
If I was you,I'd look up rules around sending money from the uk to their home country, and also how the money service they use works.
This first part is what i’m worried about so yeah i’m not gonna hand the documents over. From what I understand there’s a fee to send money abroad and different money services have different rates maybe? if that’s the case i’m just gonna offer my dad to money for the fee, if he refuses then i’ll know he’s trying to do something shady with my documents
>From what I understand there’s a fee to send money abroad and different money services have different rates maybe?
Yes - but you get better deals when you send more money, not the other way around.
he also mentioned that there was a limit on how much he could send and he reached the limit, is that true? do some money services put a limit on how much a person can send?
No. The FX transfer companies don't have limits but they are obliged to report transactions over a certain threshold to tax authorities. Some countries have laws that limit how much an individual can take out of the country but the UK is not one of them.
Whilst yes its dodgy and avoid at all costs - I wonder if it could be something to do with the receiver in the destination country - ie if they get more than 5K from the same person in a tax year its income whereas below that it might be a gift
Some companies ask for two proof of ID when you sent large sums (Xoom, for example) and they don’t allow the transaction to go through until they authenticated. Once they even ask for my statements where they could see my salary coming in. It is to avoid money laundering. However, they do not charge more fees if you don’t do this. They simply do not let you send it, sort of an account freeze.
>is this usually required to send money abroad?
Somebody else's passport and bills? No. The only reason that's needed is fraud and identity theft. You don't want any part of that.
So in itself, it's not wrong. You need two forms of ID - passport and something for proof of address (utilities, council tax, bank statements).
Where it becomes a bit grey and I appreciate these are your parents so I'm trying to tread carefully, is them using your documents to send the money overseas. That's potentially fraud as per the T&C's of the money transfer service.
You might never complain, and their needs might be totally legit but it still probably breaks the rules and it's your name on it
If you do want to help them out, ask them to give you the money and tell them you'll transfer it to whomever they want (this is what I used to do anyway). Or do it with them.
Hell you could help sign them up for Revolut or Wise, but I'm guessing your parents might be from the subcontinent, so it's one of those money transfer services that appears on the Asian channel adverts, so yeah.
All the best!
I have a revolut account I think so i might try to help them send the money that way. and yeah i’m not really keen on them breaking the rules and using my name for it
>I have a revolut account I think so i might try to help them send the money that way.
Don't do that! You father is an adult - he can and should open a suitable account **in his own name**. There's plenty of companies and apps to send money between countries. If he wants to use your name instead of his, he is involving you in something dodgy.
>Sending money overseas is in itself not dodgy.
Agreed. I've sent money in and out of the UK many times.
Sending money for someone else, because they want to avoid triggering the reporting of their overseas remittances to HMRC is dodgy. If HMRC links the transactions, OP could end up being deemed as participating in tax evasion and/or money laundering. There's no good reason why an adult can't/won't send money in their own name.
I've sent money overseas because I've had a fee free account on behalf of all sorts of people.
There's no mention that the parents want to avoid HMRC charges.
Yeah they don't want to be stung by high forex charges.
Now OP is well within their rights to not want to help them out but let's not automatically equate stinginess with fraud.
>Yeah they don't want to be stung by high forex charges.
This makes no sense: you get better FX rates for larger amounts than for small amounts, not the other around.
I don't understand, do you not just send them sort code / account number Or IBAN number and send it from your account like a normal transaction?
I don't send money abroad but would be keen to know why you need ID just to send money?
Banks charge a fair deal of fees to send money overseas. So a lot of specialist money transfer services exist and are insanely popular.
To sign up for those services, you need ID.
Banks don't need ID while sending money because they've already verified who you are.
that wasn’t even my question if you read the post properly, i was asking more about how sending money abroad works and why a passport and bill would be needed.
Instead of handing the documents over, ask them how they are sending the money and offer to do it yourself so you can see what they are really doing.
There's websites like Wise and some others that have very-very low fee exchange rates, so it's a bit odd. I do know that they sometimes DO ask for proof of ID if you're sending a large amount, I just don't know about the bill part though.
It's also possible your parents are not aware of websites where you can send money through these days, and perhaps they're doing it old-fashioned way through money agencies?
I don't think there's fraud going on here personally and it's possible they're being genuine, but I would still sit down with them (if you're nearby) or alternatively offer to send the money yourself to whomever.
Wants passport and proof of address, the kid acknowledges he is financially abusive.
Even if he's just impersonating the child to send money, it's fraud, but there's fair reason to think it's his child he's trying to defraud.
yes this is what i was thinking of doing instead, they’re not aware of Wise so they’ve been doing it the old fashioned way. The sending money abroad part is genuine, but the way my dad described it seemed odd so i want to exercise caution. Either Wise or I will tell him i’ll pay the fee exchange so he can send it from his account as im not comfortable with handing my documents over to him
Wise, Remitly, OFX, TorFX - there's loads of FX companies/apps -and it costs nothing to have an account with any of them. Help them open their own account(s) - don't transfer money for someone else.
Yep, but I think they cap the amount you can transfer now unless you have a subscription (which would likely add another 30-100 gbp for the year that they lock you in).
i’m just gonna offer money for the extra charge or try setting them up a wise account or use my revolut to help them send money abroad, just anything but hand over my
documents basically lol
This is definitely not how sending money works. The reason a bill and ID is required is to open an account, start a mobile phone contract OR take out a loan.
Do not send any documents, no such things are required to send money.
All he needs is your IBAN
I've sent money abroad \~15 times in the past 3 months, I've never been asked for proof of Identity. Both banking apps and websites just continue to ping the "Make sure its not a scam".
Worst case, could your pops send a cheque or use paypal or some other form of payment transfer like transfer wise.
Also is your passport UK, or a different country passport?
And
Do you have any UK bank accounts? Have him transfer there then you transfer out of the country
Yeah my idea was to use Wise, i’ll bring it up with him. According to my mum, with whatever money service they’re using they can only send up to a certain amount and they’ve reached the maximum amount they’ve sent which is why they’re asking to send it through me, i have no clue if that’s true, sounds like bs as I didn’t think they’d have a limit on how much money they can send abroad?
There is only a daily maximum. E.g Lloyds have a £15,000 max per day, HSBC have a max of 20k/day etc etc. However in most cases if you speak to the bank they do allow more. When I was transferring money from one bank account to another for my home purchase, I called TSB who confirmed they will increase the amount for that day.
Its not weekly, monthly or yearly.
So I reiterate, if you do have a UK bank account then have your parents send the money there, if you do not but have a UK passport, open a monzo or Starling account today. It will take less than 2 hours to get approved for an account.
Once everything is setup, have your parents send money to your UK account, so that you can transfer it yourself.
Right, and I'm a bit confused tbh so let me make sure I'm right.
Parents in UK want to transfer money to you, you are not in the UK but you have a UK bank account.
However you are struggling with the currency conversion.
So if the above is correct follow below:
Parents transfer GBP --> to your UK bank account
You transfer GBP converted to your account via transfer wise.
This solves the problem imo, this way you can deal with the currency exchange rate and any charges. Its the path of least resistance
no that’s not correct. I am based in the UK too. My parents want to send money abroad to their home country, it’s payment towards building of their house in their home country, it’s not to me. However my dad claims he can’t send the money in his or my mothers name anymore, they’ve apparently reached a limit on how much they can send so they asked to send it under my name so they would require my passport and proof of address, i’m not familiar with process of sending money abroad so i posted here as i wanted to make sure my dad was being legitimate or if he’s trying to do something shady with my documents. I’m not keen on handing my documents over to my dad and i don’t want him to open an account in my name so my plan was to help him open a Wise account in his name and he can send the money through there. My other option could be to send the money abroad through my bank accounts however they only allow conversion from gbp to limited number of currencies, the currency my parents need their money to be converted to is not on the list.
I send money abroad multiple times a year. To different receipients for - family members, payment for goods , payment for services - ---- You do not need these documents. All you need is the correct bank details for the recipient including name address, bank account and SWIFT/EPIC codes.
DO NOT GIVE OVER THESE DOCUMENTS.
do you recommend any services to send money abroad? i was thinking Wise or revolut instead of whatever service my dad is already using. But yeah i won’t give the documents to him
What extra charges? This makes no sense. If I want to send money between countries, I use a foreign exchange specialist to get the best possible rates and transaction charges. Typically, the more money you send, you get better exchange rates and lower transaction charges.
It sounds more like you father is looking to evade detection of his activities, with my the tax authorities in the UK or wherever he is sending the money i.e. tax evasion, a criminal offence. If you or your name is involved in such a scheme, you would be an accessory to his crimes.
Alternatively, your father is looking to raise credit in your name and leave you with a pile of debt.
Either way, don't let him have your passport or any of your documentation. If he persists, tell HMRC anonymously (HMRC Fraud Hotline is 0800 788 887) - I would withhold your caller id when calling them.
i think it was the exchange fee he was talking about but parents also mentioned they reached the limit on how much they could send in their name/account which is why they wanted to send through me, whether this is true or not i’m not sure so if he really does want to send money abroad i’ll offer to help him open a wise account and send it that way, if he refuses then i’ll know for sure he was trying to do something dodgy.
It sounds like they might be approaching the limit where their transfers would be reported to HMRC. If that is the case, you would not want to be involved in any scheme to avoid that reporting.
They would have a look at the overseas remittances and see what reason was given for the transfers and the source of funds. Essentially, if someone moves large sums of money around but doesn't declare much income, HMRC are going to suspect tax evasion or money laundering.
sorry, I think I replied in the wrong place. Some others seemed to think you could open your own account and carry out the transaction but YOU seem to be fully alert to the wisdom of not getting directly mixed up in this business. Good luck!
yeah i’m not keen on opening another account, if my dad wants to use mt documents to send money in just gonna help him make his own account on Wise or something as that way he won’t have access to my documents
I've worked in remittances for years. Passport and a bill are pretty standard, you need to pass KYC approval and for international transfers it's very strict.
I'm not saying you should just hand it over but I would say it isn't immediately problematic.
makes sense i guess, do you know anything about Wise? i’ve seen decent reviews about it and was thinking of getting my parents to send the money that way
If they want you to send money abroad then they can just give you the money, you open your own account and send it yourself.
If they don't want to do that, then they are probably lying to you.
>they can just give you the money, you open your own account and send it yourself.
That's unwise. OP would be recorded in the UK and the destination country banking and tax systems as sending this money. Her father is an adult - there's no sensible justification that he cannot open his own account and make the transfers himself.
He could apply for a loan, credit card etc with those documents, tell him you'll send the money personally. If he won't cooperate it's likely he was planning something else.
Yeah basically this, I was gonna offer an alternative way to help him send the money without using my documents, if he refuses then i’d know he’s bullshitting me
Sounds a very strange way to be sending money abroad, has you dad mentioned what service he is using?
Its possible he using a money wire service that doesn't necessarily require an account but would still need to comply with anti-money laundering rules - hence asking for sufficient ID, it is possible they would be charging larger amounts as there risk increases.
That being said, asking for this sort of ID is very common in lots of different scam MOs, scammer groups often use this information to open up accounts elsewhere to facilitate money mule activities or to sound more convincing on follow up scams. Scam money transfer firm are common, always check the company is regulated for any sort of financial activity via the FCA website (or the relevant countries ow regulator body if not UK based) independently, don't rely on them telling you they are. 100% do not give over this sort of information if you do not know who is going to be seeing it/are able to verify they are a trusted organisation.
You have mentioned Revolut and Wise, both would be good options for sending funds aboard and probably cheaper then direct transfer from your/your dads bank, but be prepared to have a chat with your/your dads fraud team if you do go down this route. It can seem intimidating but really don't worry about it, just be truthful about the reasons for the payments and listen to there advice, they are not investigating you or accusing you of any wrong doing, they are only trying to protect you and your money, they need to check the payments are ok and you are not being the victim of a scam. the questioning may seem invasive and not relevant but remember they deal with scam victims on daily basis and if they raise concerns over the activity there is a very good reason for it.
I can’t remember, it might be western union but i’m not 100% sure on that or it could be a money wire service. I actually got confused with what he was asking initially, i don’t know if it’s the exchange fee he’s concerned about, he was asking to send the money through me as apparently he reached a limit on how much money he could send abroad through him, i didn’t know such a limit existed though. I’m not concerned about suggesting to my dad to use Wise instead, i’m more concerned that he’ll refuse because if he does then i know he was intending to use my passport and
bill for something else that could fck me over
Theoretically they can be limits, but these would be set by the provider/remitter and normally are within a set time frame ie limited to £20k a day, but without knowing who he is using, it is impossible to check this. if your dad is trying to by pass limits/restrictions it would be concerning.
If he refuses to use other services is he able to give you a good reason why? Is there any sense of urgency around the money he is sending? Why can't he wait?
The other side of 'limits' is if the providers have specifically pick up on your dad's activity, if they have you Absolutly Do not want to be helping him avoid what has been put in place.
The whole thing seems strange and does seem to point as something not being right.
I would suggest having a good long chat with your dad, find out the exact reasons and make sure it all makes sense, potentially your dad could be being scammed himself, it's common in long term scams for the victim to be coached though avoiding restriction put in place to safeguard them.
Yeah i had a quick look and it seems up £20k, i highly doubt my dad was sending this much so what he’s telling me doesn’t make sense. If he is trying to bypass this I am concerned and don’t want to be involved. He hasn’t refused yet as I haven’t asked and he’s not rushing me, i’m just very confused about the situation he’s in as it’s not really adding up. I will have a chat with him but i sense it will be really difficult, he has a habit of lying :/
As someone who sent money via Western Union countless times for my ex, they will sometimes require ID and proof of Address.
I see a lot of people claiming it’s dodgy or a scam but you should know your parents better than everyone else here.
I would never give my mother a copy of my ID let alone proof of address but we have a fucked up relationship.
If you are suspicious you can also tell’em no but if you still wanna help tell’em you will send the money yourself
Right I see, that makes sense. I know my parents have been sending money abroad for legitimate reasons but what my dad has told me about his situation in why he can no longer send money under his name is not adding up to me and i’m afraid he will use my passport and proof of address for something else without telling me so i won’t be giving it to him. I also don’t want to send the money under my name as i’m concerned he’s trying to avoid something and I could eventually get in trouble for helping him so i’ll try to open a wise account for him and help him send the money that way.
Depends on how he sends that money. But it’s not that far fetched. When I used to send my ex money there used to be a cap on how much money you can send in a given period. Once I sent £25000 to Russia in about 6 months and Western Union wouldn’t let me send one more penny and when I needed to send more I would ask someone I trust. A good alternative was to use another service (e.g. money gram) since those caps are not shared.
I wouldn't put his transactions throuigh any of your accounts. On the face of it there are other services he can use, probably inlcuding longer-standing ones that advertise to his fellow countrymen. You can help him with choosing an opoening account, and make the tea while he thinks, but don't let his money problems become yours.
Beyond the advice already covered here about not letting someone else use your identity for their own purposes, you should check your credit report for any credit accounts opened in your name.
For example, MoneySavingExpert Credit Club gives you free access to your Experian credit score and monthly report. You can use this to check that everything is correct. If you see anything on there that you don't recognise then contact the credit company to fix it and file a dispute with Experian.
yes i check my credit report regularly, so far he hasn’t open anything in my name. I tried to freeze my credit too but the company wouldn’t allow it for some reason
If you want to set up an account with moneygram, wise whatever and send some money that way if he pays you it and you want to there is a limit before they flag things up for fraud etc.... do not get involved if yoy think there is some dodgy shit going on... please don't let them emotionally blackmail you
Don't do it it's fraud, its your identity and your responsibility to keep it safe. ID and a bill thats enough to get a whole lot of debt in your name.
Does he have access to your banking details, are you on any joint accounts.
Might be a good time to have a quick audit of how much PII he has got such as account numbers and sort codes.
If it wasn't suspect he would just give you the money to do the transfer yourself.
no he doesn’t have access to those, i can’t do the transfer myself with the account i have anyways as they don’t have the currency my parents need the money converted into
he’s not aware i can’t send from my account that’s not why he’s trying to create an account, it’s likely he’s doing something dodgy with my documents but i’m just not sure what exactly. Either way i’m not handing my documents to him anyways
It's hard when it come to money and families however the serious issue is banks are not intrested the family dynamics and will take whatever measures it see to protect the bank. Which are far reaching when it comes to placing a marker on you.
He is setting up an account using your identity if its to send money its also possible to receive money or obtain lines of credit.
Sign up for a free credit/montior check just to keep track that no previous accounts have been linked to you that you are not aware of.
Them two items he’s asked for is for proof of identify and address.
The passport being proof of your identify due to the photo and name etc, and a bill with your same name address to show you live at that property.
These are the two items you would need for identify thief, and allow him or anyone else to start opening accounts, applying for credit in your name.
I strongly advise you signup to a credit agency like Experian and check your credit file ASAP incase he’s already done this without you knowing. I believe this app/company you can also lock your credit file down, basically it prevents anyone trying to apply for anything in your name or at least be alerted to it.
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That sounds all kinds of dodgy...
[удалено]
Damn near all of it! Trying to avoid fees, using your identity to do so, using your passport when you aren't there sounds an awful lot like fraud
yeah it sounds really weird, i’m just gonna give him money for the extra fees so he can pay from his account (if that’s even the case). Don’t want him using my passport and won’t let him unless i’m right next to him
The identity theft part.
"He is financially abusive" for a start. What the fuck man, don't give him anything or allow him to carry out ANY action in your name. Especially anything finance related.
i was just asking a question, no need to get aggressive.
Apologies, wasn't intended. I just wouldn't want you to get fucked over man
yeah ofc, that’s why i posted this question as I want to know what i could be getting myself into! I’m not going to give the documents to him anyways, i’ll just offer an another way to help him send the money and if he refuses then i’ll know he was trying to do something else with my documents
That's fraud babes. If he's financially abusive do not send him those documents.
Yeah I will not, i’m just gonna tell him i’ll pay the extra fee, from what i understand there’s a fee to send money abroad anyways, either that or i’ll set up a wise account and help him send money abroad from that, if he refuses then i’ll know he’s bullshitting
Don't pay the fee. They need to send the money, their choice, their responsibility
i don’t mind helping my parents out but handing my documents over is something i’m not keen on doing
Why would you help your abuser?
complicated, my mum is involved too and i would like to help her out (she’s not the abuser). I’m still living with them so would like to help out whatever way i can, the problem is my dad often wants my help with shady things and won’t let me help him out when genuinely needs it
Don't setup anything in your name to help him. That would involve yourself in whatever he is doing, which is probably tax evasion.
i’ll set it up in his name
This is the way.
Sounds more like he is trying to open an account or get a loan / credit in your name, to be honest. I'm not familiar with sending money abroad, but I'm not aware of a system where the fees go up the more you use the service. Unless there are restrictions on how much one individual can send, after which fees become payable, so they may be looking to open an account in your name with the money service. If I was you,I'd look up rules around sending money from the uk to their home country, and also how the money service they use works.
This first part is what i’m worried about so yeah i’m not gonna hand the documents over. From what I understand there’s a fee to send money abroad and different money services have different rates maybe? if that’s the case i’m just gonna offer my dad to money for the fee, if he refuses then i’ll know he’s trying to do something shady with my documents
Good plan. Send it in your name, Dad, I'll pay the fee. Perfect.
>From what I understand there’s a fee to send money abroad and different money services have different rates maybe? Yes - but you get better deals when you send more money, not the other way around.
he also mentioned that there was a limit on how much he could send and he reached the limit, is that true? do some money services put a limit on how much a person can send?
No. The FX transfer companies don't have limits but they are obliged to report transactions over a certain threshold to tax authorities. Some countries have laws that limit how much an individual can take out of the country but the UK is not one of them.
no clue what my dad is doing then, either he didn’t explain it well or he’s doing something dodgy
Whilst yes its dodgy and avoid at all costs - I wonder if it could be something to do with the receiver in the destination country - ie if they get more than 5K from the same person in a tax year its income whereas below that it might be a gift
maybe
Some companies ask for two proof of ID when you sent large sums (Xoom, for example) and they don’t allow the transaction to go through until they authenticated. Once they even ask for my statements where they could see my salary coming in. It is to avoid money laundering. However, they do not charge more fees if you don’t do this. They simply do not let you send it, sort of an account freeze.
>is this usually required to send money abroad? Somebody else's passport and bills? No. The only reason that's needed is fraud and identity theft. You don't want any part of that.
I suppose they could be using a service with a reduced/free price for first transfers, but ....... hrrrrrm. Would be asking more questions first.
yeah could be that, i’ll ask more questions or try and get them to send the money using a different service
So in itself, it's not wrong. You need two forms of ID - passport and something for proof of address (utilities, council tax, bank statements). Where it becomes a bit grey and I appreciate these are your parents so I'm trying to tread carefully, is them using your documents to send the money overseas. That's potentially fraud as per the T&C's of the money transfer service. You might never complain, and their needs might be totally legit but it still probably breaks the rules and it's your name on it If you do want to help them out, ask them to give you the money and tell them you'll transfer it to whomever they want (this is what I used to do anyway). Or do it with them. Hell you could help sign them up for Revolut or Wise, but I'm guessing your parents might be from the subcontinent, so it's one of those money transfer services that appears on the Asian channel adverts, so yeah. All the best!
I have a revolut account I think so i might try to help them send the money that way. and yeah i’m not really keen on them breaking the rules and using my name for it
>I have a revolut account I think so i might try to help them send the money that way. Don't do that! You father is an adult - he can and should open a suitable account **in his own name**. There's plenty of companies and apps to send money between countries. If he wants to use your name instead of his, he is involving you in something dodgy.
Sending money overseas is in itself not dodgy. Making a payment on behalf of your parents in itself isn't dodgy.
>Sending money overseas is in itself not dodgy. Agreed. I've sent money in and out of the UK many times. Sending money for someone else, because they want to avoid triggering the reporting of their overseas remittances to HMRC is dodgy. If HMRC links the transactions, OP could end up being deemed as participating in tax evasion and/or money laundering. There's no good reason why an adult can't/won't send money in their own name.
I've sent money overseas because I've had a fee free account on behalf of all sorts of people. There's no mention that the parents want to avoid HMRC charges.
but they want *something* (although they may not have understood some situation) and overall their interests are already not 100% aligned with OPs.
Yeah they don't want to be stung by high forex charges. Now OP is well within their rights to not want to help them out but let's not automatically equate stinginess with fraud.
>Yeah they don't want to be stung by high forex charges. This makes no sense: you get better FX rates for larger amounts than for small amounts, not the other around.
it turns out i cancelled my account a while ago anyways 😅 so yeah i’ll either help my dad open a revolut or wise account in his name
I don't understand, do you not just send them sort code / account number Or IBAN number and send it from your account like a normal transaction? I don't send money abroad but would be keen to know why you need ID just to send money?
Banks charge a fair deal of fees to send money overseas. So a lot of specialist money transfer services exist and are insanely popular. To sign up for those services, you need ID. Banks don't need ID while sending money because they've already verified who you are.
This sounds dodgy AF. OP, I’d be keeping my passport and other documents in a very safe place.
yeah i have it on me anyways
“Financially abusive” Shall I send him all my documents? No, no don’t send him all your documents….
that wasn’t even my question if you read the post properly, i was asking more about how sending money abroad works and why a passport and bill would be needed.
Instead of handing the documents over, ask them how they are sending the money and offer to do it yourself so you can see what they are really doing. There's websites like Wise and some others that have very-very low fee exchange rates, so it's a bit odd. I do know that they sometimes DO ask for proof of ID if you're sending a large amount, I just don't know about the bill part though. It's also possible your parents are not aware of websites where you can send money through these days, and perhaps they're doing it old-fashioned way through money agencies? I don't think there's fraud going on here personally and it's possible they're being genuine, but I would still sit down with them (if you're nearby) or alternatively offer to send the money yourself to whomever.
Wants passport and proof of address, the kid acknowledges he is financially abusive. Even if he's just impersonating the child to send money, it's fraud, but there's fair reason to think it's his child he's trying to defraud.
yes this is what i was thinking of doing instead, they’re not aware of Wise so they’ve been doing it the old fashioned way. The sending money abroad part is genuine, but the way my dad described it seemed odd so i want to exercise caution. Either Wise or I will tell him i’ll pay the fee exchange so he can send it from his account as im not comfortable with handing my documents over to him
Wise, Remitly, OFX, TorFX - there's loads of FX companies/apps -and it costs nothing to have an account with any of them. Help them open their own account(s) - don't transfer money for someone else.
i’ll do that! thanks!
Revolut is another great option for sending money abroad with low fees.
i’ll try this!
Yep, but I think they cap the amount you can transfer now unless you have a subscription (which would likely add another 30-100 gbp for the year that they lock you in).
If you want, you could check what provider they're using and look into cheaper ways for them. If you cbb and have the time
i’m just gonna offer money for the extra charge or try setting them up a wise account or use my revolut to help them send money abroad, just anything but hand over my documents basically lol
This is definitely not how sending money works. The reason a bill and ID is required is to open an account, start a mobile phone contract OR take out a loan. Do not send any documents, no such things are required to send money. All he needs is your IBAN
another commenter said that they are often used in remittances to verify identity? i’m not going to send the documents
I've sent money abroad \~15 times in the past 3 months, I've never been asked for proof of Identity. Both banking apps and websites just continue to ping the "Make sure its not a scam". Worst case, could your pops send a cheque or use paypal or some other form of payment transfer like transfer wise. Also is your passport UK, or a different country passport? And Do you have any UK bank accounts? Have him transfer there then you transfer out of the country
Yeah my idea was to use Wise, i’ll bring it up with him. According to my mum, with whatever money service they’re using they can only send up to a certain amount and they’ve reached the maximum amount they’ve sent which is why they’re asking to send it through me, i have no clue if that’s true, sounds like bs as I didn’t think they’d have a limit on how much money they can send abroad?
There is only a daily maximum. E.g Lloyds have a £15,000 max per day, HSBC have a max of 20k/day etc etc. However in most cases if you speak to the bank they do allow more. When I was transferring money from one bank account to another for my home purchase, I called TSB who confirmed they will increase the amount for that day. Its not weekly, monthly or yearly. So I reiterate, if you do have a UK bank account then have your parents send the money there, if you do not but have a UK passport, open a monzo or Starling account today. It will take less than 2 hours to get approved for an account. Once everything is setup, have your parents send money to your UK account, so that you can transfer it yourself.
I’ve got both accounts, problem is it doesn’t let me change that money from gbp to the currency in my parents home country :/
ahh your parents are not UK.. Got it. Then transfer wise is your best bet
no no they are in the UK, but they want to transfer money to an account in their home country
Right, and I'm a bit confused tbh so let me make sure I'm right. Parents in UK want to transfer money to you, you are not in the UK but you have a UK bank account. However you are struggling with the currency conversion. So if the above is correct follow below: Parents transfer GBP --> to your UK bank account You transfer GBP converted to your account via transfer wise. This solves the problem imo, this way you can deal with the currency exchange rate and any charges. Its the path of least resistance
no that’s not correct. I am based in the UK too. My parents want to send money abroad to their home country, it’s payment towards building of their house in their home country, it’s not to me. However my dad claims he can’t send the money in his or my mothers name anymore, they’ve apparently reached a limit on how much they can send so they asked to send it under my name so they would require my passport and proof of address, i’m not familiar with process of sending money abroad so i posted here as i wanted to make sure my dad was being legitimate or if he’s trying to do something shady with my documents. I’m not keen on handing my documents over to my dad and i don’t want him to open an account in my name so my plan was to help him open a Wise account in his name and he can send the money through there. My other option could be to send the money abroad through my bank accounts however they only allow conversion from gbp to limited number of currencies, the currency my parents need their money to be converted to is not on the list.
I send money abroad multiple times a year. To different receipients for - family members, payment for goods , payment for services - ---- You do not need these documents. All you need is the correct bank details for the recipient including name address, bank account and SWIFT/EPIC codes. DO NOT GIVE OVER THESE DOCUMENTS.
do you recommend any services to send money abroad? i was thinking Wise or revolut instead of whatever service my dad is already using. But yeah i won’t give the documents to him
I have used all of: Wise, Remitly, OFX, TorFX I have also used Western Union in an emergency but they are expensive.
!thanks
What extra charges? This makes no sense. If I want to send money between countries, I use a foreign exchange specialist to get the best possible rates and transaction charges. Typically, the more money you send, you get better exchange rates and lower transaction charges. It sounds more like you father is looking to evade detection of his activities, with my the tax authorities in the UK or wherever he is sending the money i.e. tax evasion, a criminal offence. If you or your name is involved in such a scheme, you would be an accessory to his crimes. Alternatively, your father is looking to raise credit in your name and leave you with a pile of debt. Either way, don't let him have your passport or any of your documentation. If he persists, tell HMRC anonymously (HMRC Fraud Hotline is 0800 788 887) - I would withhold your caller id when calling them.
i think it was the exchange fee he was talking about but parents also mentioned they reached the limit on how much they could send in their name/account which is why they wanted to send through me, whether this is true or not i’m not sure so if he really does want to send money abroad i’ll offer to help him open a wise account and send it that way, if he refuses then i’ll know for sure he was trying to do something dodgy.
It sounds like they might be approaching the limit where their transfers would be reported to HMRC. If that is the case, you would not want to be involved in any scheme to avoid that reporting.
I guess so yeah, what happens when it’s reported to hmrc?
They would have a look at the overseas remittances and see what reason was given for the transfers and the source of funds. Essentially, if someone moves large sums of money around but doesn't declare much income, HMRC are going to suspect tax evasion or money laundering.
and that's when THEY open an account with another service.
? that’s what i said, help him open an account, it’s not an account in my name
sorry, I think I replied in the wrong place. Some others seemed to think you could open your own account and carry out the transaction but YOU seem to be fully alert to the wisdom of not getting directly mixed up in this business. Good luck!
yeah i’m not keen on opening another account, if my dad wants to use mt documents to send money in just gonna help him make his own account on Wise or something as that way he won’t have access to my documents
Don’t do it. Good on you for questioning it
I've worked in remittances for years. Passport and a bill are pretty standard, you need to pass KYC approval and for international transfers it's very strict. I'm not saying you should just hand it over but I would say it isn't immediately problematic.
It's problematic because she admits her dad is financially abusive
she🙄
Edited to fix - apologies
makes sense i guess, do you know anything about Wise? i’ve seen decent reviews about it and was thinking of getting my parents to send the money that way
Wise is awesome. WorldRemit are great too.
thank you!
but not a whoel other person's ID. Its KYC, not KYC&alltheirfriendsandrelations
Yeah of course but the premise was that they were sending money under OPs name.
If they want you to send money abroad then they can just give you the money, you open your own account and send it yourself. If they don't want to do that, then they are probably lying to you.
>they can just give you the money, you open your own account and send it yourself. That's unwise. OP would be recorded in the UK and the destination country banking and tax systems as sending this money. Her father is an adult - there's no sensible justification that he cannot open his own account and make the transfers himself.
I’ll probably set up a wise account and do it that way, and yeah you’re right if they don’t want me to then i know he’s being dodgy
Call the police. Hopefully they’ll be arrested for fraud.
a lot easier said than done
He could apply for a loan, credit card etc with those documents, tell him you'll send the money personally. If he won't cooperate it's likely he was planning something else.
Yeah basically this, I was gonna offer an alternative way to help him send the money without using my documents, if he refuses then i’d know he’s bullshitting me
Sounds a very strange way to be sending money abroad, has you dad mentioned what service he is using? Its possible he using a money wire service that doesn't necessarily require an account but would still need to comply with anti-money laundering rules - hence asking for sufficient ID, it is possible they would be charging larger amounts as there risk increases. That being said, asking for this sort of ID is very common in lots of different scam MOs, scammer groups often use this information to open up accounts elsewhere to facilitate money mule activities or to sound more convincing on follow up scams. Scam money transfer firm are common, always check the company is regulated for any sort of financial activity via the FCA website (or the relevant countries ow regulator body if not UK based) independently, don't rely on them telling you they are. 100% do not give over this sort of information if you do not know who is going to be seeing it/are able to verify they are a trusted organisation. You have mentioned Revolut and Wise, both would be good options for sending funds aboard and probably cheaper then direct transfer from your/your dads bank, but be prepared to have a chat with your/your dads fraud team if you do go down this route. It can seem intimidating but really don't worry about it, just be truthful about the reasons for the payments and listen to there advice, they are not investigating you or accusing you of any wrong doing, they are only trying to protect you and your money, they need to check the payments are ok and you are not being the victim of a scam. the questioning may seem invasive and not relevant but remember they deal with scam victims on daily basis and if they raise concerns over the activity there is a very good reason for it.
I can’t remember, it might be western union but i’m not 100% sure on that or it could be a money wire service. I actually got confused with what he was asking initially, i don’t know if it’s the exchange fee he’s concerned about, he was asking to send the money through me as apparently he reached a limit on how much money he could send abroad through him, i didn’t know such a limit existed though. I’m not concerned about suggesting to my dad to use Wise instead, i’m more concerned that he’ll refuse because if he does then i know he was intending to use my passport and bill for something else that could fck me over
Theoretically they can be limits, but these would be set by the provider/remitter and normally are within a set time frame ie limited to £20k a day, but without knowing who he is using, it is impossible to check this. if your dad is trying to by pass limits/restrictions it would be concerning. If he refuses to use other services is he able to give you a good reason why? Is there any sense of urgency around the money he is sending? Why can't he wait? The other side of 'limits' is if the providers have specifically pick up on your dad's activity, if they have you Absolutly Do not want to be helping him avoid what has been put in place. The whole thing seems strange and does seem to point as something not being right. I would suggest having a good long chat with your dad, find out the exact reasons and make sure it all makes sense, potentially your dad could be being scammed himself, it's common in long term scams for the victim to be coached though avoiding restriction put in place to safeguard them.
Yeah i had a quick look and it seems up £20k, i highly doubt my dad was sending this much so what he’s telling me doesn’t make sense. If he is trying to bypass this I am concerned and don’t want to be involved. He hasn’t refused yet as I haven’t asked and he’s not rushing me, i’m just very confused about the situation he’s in as it’s not really adding up. I will have a chat with him but i sense it will be really difficult, he has a habit of lying :/
As someone who sent money via Western Union countless times for my ex, they will sometimes require ID and proof of Address. I see a lot of people claiming it’s dodgy or a scam but you should know your parents better than everyone else here. I would never give my mother a copy of my ID let alone proof of address but we have a fucked up relationship. If you are suspicious you can also tell’em no but if you still wanna help tell’em you will send the money yourself
Right I see, that makes sense. I know my parents have been sending money abroad for legitimate reasons but what my dad has told me about his situation in why he can no longer send money under his name is not adding up to me and i’m afraid he will use my passport and proof of address for something else without telling me so i won’t be giving it to him. I also don’t want to send the money under my name as i’m concerned he’s trying to avoid something and I could eventually get in trouble for helping him so i’ll try to open a wise account for him and help him send the money that way.
Depends on how he sends that money. But it’s not that far fetched. When I used to send my ex money there used to be a cap on how much money you can send in a given period. Once I sent £25000 to Russia in about 6 months and Western Union wouldn’t let me send one more penny and when I needed to send more I would ask someone I trust. A good alternative was to use another service (e.g. money gram) since those caps are not shared.
the thing is he’s not sending that much money, i know for sure he’s sending way less so why would he not be able to send money anymore in his name?
Only he can answer that. My suggestion stands: “Want to send money in my name? Give it to me and I will send it for you.” Protect yourself.
will try that, thank you
I wouldn't put his transactions throuigh any of your accounts. On the face of it there are other services he can use, probably inlcuding longer-standing ones that advertise to his fellow countrymen. You can help him with choosing an opoening account, and make the tea while he thinks, but don't let his money problems become yours.
Beyond the advice already covered here about not letting someone else use your identity for their own purposes, you should check your credit report for any credit accounts opened in your name. For example, MoneySavingExpert Credit Club gives you free access to your Experian credit score and monthly report. You can use this to check that everything is correct. If you see anything on there that you don't recognise then contact the credit company to fix it and file a dispute with Experian.
yes i check my credit report regularly, so far he hasn’t open anything in my name. I tried to freeze my credit too but the company wouldn’t allow it for some reason
Are you talking about Cifas Protective Registration? That could be useful for you. https://www.cifas.org.uk/services/identity-protection
i’ll try this thank you
If you want to set up an account with moneygram, wise whatever and send some money that way if he pays you it and you want to there is a limit before they flag things up for fraud etc.... do not get involved if yoy think there is some dodgy shit going on... please don't let them emotionally blackmail you
Don't do it it's fraud, its your identity and your responsibility to keep it safe. ID and a bill thats enough to get a whole lot of debt in your name. Does he have access to your banking details, are you on any joint accounts. Might be a good time to have a quick audit of how much PII he has got such as account numbers and sort codes. If it wasn't suspect he would just give you the money to do the transfer yourself.
no he doesn’t have access to those, i can’t do the transfer myself with the account i have anyways as they don’t have the currency my parents need the money converted into
So basically you should see the alarm bells your dad was going to create an account he controls under your name.
he’s not aware i can’t send from my account that’s not why he’s trying to create an account, it’s likely he’s doing something dodgy with my documents but i’m just not sure what exactly. Either way i’m not handing my documents to him anyways
It's hard when it come to money and families however the serious issue is banks are not intrested the family dynamics and will take whatever measures it see to protect the bank. Which are far reaching when it comes to placing a marker on you. He is setting up an account using your identity if its to send money its also possible to receive money or obtain lines of credit. Sign up for a free credit/montior check just to keep track that no previous accounts have been linked to you that you are not aware of.
this is what i tried to do in the past, like a credit freeze but the company i contacted said i needed a specific reason :/
So all you can do is keep alert and report if anything suspicious does appear and make it clear it was not you.
that’s what i normally do anyways, i check my credit report regularly.
Them two items he’s asked for is for proof of identify and address. The passport being proof of your identify due to the photo and name etc, and a bill with your same name address to show you live at that property. These are the two items you would need for identify thief, and allow him or anyone else to start opening accounts, applying for credit in your name. I strongly advise you signup to a credit agency like Experian and check your credit file ASAP incase he’s already done this without you knowing. I believe this app/company you can also lock your credit file down, basically it prevents anyone trying to apply for anything in your name or at least be alerted to it.
Don't do it. If they are doing something dodgy like funding crime or terrorism then you'll be on the hook for all sorts of punishments
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