Scam Watch

The pitch: “Just wire the money to me.”

The scam: Fraudsters want you to wire money to them because it’s easy to collect on the other end and almost impossible to reclaim once it has been picked up. So if strangers want you to wire money for any reason -- a Craigslist payment, reimbursement for a certified check overage, customs fees, payment for cute puppies or just about anything else -- red flags should immediately go up. There’s a good chance it’s a scam.

The settlement: Last week, New Jersey Atty. Gen. Anne Milgram announced a multi-state agreement that had been reached with MoneyGram Payment Systems Inc., one of the leading money transfer firms. The company agreed to fund a $1.1-million nationwide consumer-awareness program on “fraud-induced transfers.” MoneyGram also agreed to put warnings in English and Spanish on its forms to inform users about possible fraud. The company did not admit to wrongdoing in agreeing to the settlement.

The advice: Don’t wire money to strangers. If you do and realize you may have been scammed, contact the transfer company as quickly as possible to ask that the transaction be stopped. If the money hasn’t been picked up on the other end, you might be able to reclaim the funds.

-- David Colker