Someone I know via Facebook and who lives in Pakistan wants me to send him money - should I?

So there are soooooo many places THIS question could go...!

THE ONE TRUTH IS THAT WHENEVER SOMEONE HAS TO ASK, "IS THIS A SCAM?", THE ANSWER ALMOST ALWAYS SHOULD BE OBVIOUS -- YES!!!

If you're unsure of the situation (and you know FAR MORE than we ever can) then your first reaction should be to follow your instinct and not do it.

The fact the person is now giving you a DIFFERENT name to send the money to should be an automatic red flag!

Apart from the fact you will likely never see your money again, you don't really KNOW who this person is, and you could find yourself on watchlists and involved in the kinds of things that nightmares are made of.

Having covered the obvious (and assuming you might still be willing to entertain this harebrained idea), is this someone you only know via Facebook? Under what circumstances did you meet, and why are they asking you for money now? How much do they want, and do they intend to pay you back? Even if they did agree to pay you, how could you ever collect?

You need to be VERY, VERY CAREFUL! You don't know what is happening on the other end and where this might lead, unless this is a person you know far better than some social media account.

DO NOT SEND MONEY

If you are lucky, this just a scam and you'll just loose your money. But it's also possible that this related to some money laundering scheme or you are being used as a money mule. Could be just criminals but it could also be related to a terrorist organization in which case you would commit a serious crime and potentially end up in jail.

DO NOT SEND MONEY

Most likely this is a scam. I had an Arab friend that I knew by one name when we worked together, but he goes by a different last name today. Maybe this flexibility with last names is something in Islamic cultures we don't see in the US. If someone knows either way, please set me straight.

Supposing we ignore the red flag of the name discrepancy and further suppose it to be innocent cultural variation. How would you ascertain this is not a scam? Have you communicated with him via a different (non-internet) channel? Whenever I feel a prickling in my thumbs about something, I look up a phone number or a snail mail address. In fact, just this week, suspecting a fraud had been perpetrated in my name, I drafted a stiffly-worded letter to the State of Michigan and sent it off registered mail.

Scammers are unlikely to spoof non-electronic communications channels when you choose the channel and the address. Frankly, I think you're being scammed.