Western Union Agrees to Compensate Victims of Scams Using Their Money Wiring Services
GREAT NEWS for victims of scams that paid through Western Union. In the past if you wired money through Western Union to pay the upfront fees of a scam, your money was gone. It was basically impossible to trace since the people obtaining the money used money mules to pick up the money from Western Union for them. Now this has all changed with this news just announced:
For years, many people who lost money to scams sent their payment through a Western Union wire transfer. Scammers contacted people and promised prizes, loans, jobs, discounted products or other financial rewards in exchange for money upfront. They also pretended to be family members in need of cash or law enforcement officers demanding payment. The scammers told people to send money through Western Union. No one received the cash, prizes or services they were promised.
Because of joint investigations by the FTC, the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the U. S. Postal Inspection Service, Western Union agreed to pay $586 million and admitted to aiding and abetting wire fraud. The DOJ is now using that money to provide refunds to people who were tricked into using Western Union to pay scammers.
The Federal Trade Commission is alerting consumers who lost money to scammers who told them to pay via Western Union’s money transfer system between January 1, 2004 and January 19, 2017, that they can now file a claim to get their money back by going to www.FTC.gov/WU before February 12, 2018.
If you have not been contacted and did send money to a scam via Western Union during this claim period, contact the FTC IMMEDIATELY.
Re: Western Union Agrees to Compensate Victims of Scams Using Their Money Wiring Services
The deadline to file a claim has been extended to May 31st. 2018. [Link]
Quote:
February 1, 2018by Karen Dodge
Attorney, Midwest Region, FTC
Did you lose money to a scammer who had you pay using Western Union between January 1, 2004 and January 19, 2017? If so, you can ask for money back from the FTC’s settlement with Western Union. And the deadline to file your claim was just extended to May 31, 2018.
Here’s the deal. Western Union agreed to return $586 million to people to settle the FTC’s charges that Western Union hadn’t adequately protected people from fraud, and didn’t properly discipline problem agents. To get money back, here’s what you need to do by May 31, 2018:
- Start at FTC.gov/WU to file your claim online. If you got a letter in the mail about a complaint you filed earlier, you’ll have a Claim ID and a PIN. Click the blue “I got a pre-filled claim form” button and use those to file your claim. If you didn’t get a letter in the mail, click the orange button that says “I lost money, but did not get a claim form.”
- Give as much information as you can about your loss. Upload any paperwork you have. The Department of Justice, which is handling the claims through their contractor, Gilardi & Co, will use that information to try to validate your Western Union money transfer.
- Yes, you have to give your Social Security number or ITIN to file a claim. Read why here.
- Don’t pay anybody to help you file your claim, or get money back. Anybody who asks you to pay for your claim or refund is scamming you. Tell the FTC.
- Then, be patient. It might take a year for the Department of Justice to validate all the claims and start returning money.
If you have questions, you might find answers here, and also check out the FAQs at FTC.gov/WU. Why not do it now? But you have until May 31, 2018. After that, you won’t be able to file your claim to get money back under this settlement with Western Union.
