Blog / scams

  Imagine that your local supermarket started advertising its products, in newspapers, and on the shelves, at the wholesale prices, only hitting customers for the higher marked-up cost when they arrived at the checkout. Nobody would put up with that kind of nonsense! In fact, if they dared try it, somebody, maybe the local Consumers’ Association, would shut them down. You just don’t get away with that kind of thing these days, right?

Believe it or not, something similar to this is done by many of the online foreign exchange brokers, and nobody bats an eyelid. Consumer protection doesn’t seem to apply in...

Last week I received a flyer from An Post (the Irish Post Office, if you’re not from these parts), telling me that “An Post sells Sterling and Dollars COMMISSION FREE”. Well, who doesn’t these days? It seems to be the standard line everywhere; banks, bureau de change at the airport, and also most of the online brokers specialising in foreign bank transfers. What does it actually mean? Not a lot really, and in fact I believe that its use is often deliberately misleading.

When you change money with your bank, or at the airport, or almost anywhere else for that matter, it is reasonable to assume that the person selling you the foreign currency is taking some sort of a cut. After all, they’re providing you with a service. This cut, unless you know better, you would probably assume...