How to safely send money overseas & avoid scams this holiday

As we come back in the newsroom, speaking of money, some people are going to send cash for their holidays to family members overseas. And fees can take a bite out of that gift, and scammers can end up taking all of it if you're not careful. Consumer expert Claudia Lombana joins us live with what to check for before you hit send. Claudia, I really appreciate your time. Thanks so much for joining us this afternoon. Thanks for having me on. Happy to be here. So this is involving Visa. They did some report here, a new survey about how Americans sending money abroad. What stood out to you about what you saw in that report? So these international remittances are really important to families, not just because, well, the number one reason that Americans are sending internationally is gifting, but that money is being used for everyday essentials. So whether it's rent or groceries, the monies are being used by these folks internationally and overseas just to survive. So important to note, of course, now for those sending, 68 percent of those sending money internationally are doing so many times a year, multiple times a year. So for a lot of the families, sending across borders has become a way to stay connected and take care of the people that matter to them the most. And so when you are trying to send money abroad, there are obviously a number of different services that there are available. What should people do and what should people know when they're comparing services to decide which one to use and which one may be better for them? Yeah, there are several things that should be taken into consideration. And number one is the overall cost of the transaction. So that includes fees, that includes exchange rates. You want to make sure that you have fraud protection on the transaction. Check the reliability of the provider. Trust, obviously, is especially important here. Visa's research found that globally 69% of remitters say that trust in a new way of sending money is more important based on who's offering that, even more important than the technology itself. So that's an important note as well. So, Claudia, obviously, we know when there's technology involved, scammers love to get involved to try to, you know, take advantage of people. Obviously, fake messages come across, and now we have AI that makes it probably even easier with cloned voices. Anything you're warning about and anything you're seeing that people should be aware of when they maybe get some of these messages? Yeah, I love that you brought all that up. We've got a few pointers here, but the number one thing for folks to look out for is any sort of a message, a request for money that is urgent or unexpected. That should send the red flags flying. You want to make sure that you're able to verify the identity of the person making the request or the identity of the person that you're going to be sending money to directly. Make sure that you're using a known contact method to do that rather than information provided via any sort of message. You mentioned AI-generated requests. That's also something to look out for as well as impersonation scams. Never share your passwords, your PINs, your authentication or security codes. It's very important to protect yourself in that way. The study found that 45 percent of Americans would rather wait for a 24-hour delay if it meant added security and protection for their transaction. I think that makes a lot of sense. You'd rather have that waiting period so people aren't getting taken advantage of. Where can people find more information about all of this and maybe ways to stay protected? Absolutely. They can go to Visa.com slash Visa Direct Network. Claudia, some very good information. I think our viewers are going to appreciate, especially as we get closer to the holidays. And, well, I know for me, I'm not the type of person to send money overseas because I have no one to send to. There are a lot of people here in our communities and in communities across the state. So all good advice. Claudia, thanks so much for being here. You bet. Thank you.