Compensation for Victims of Western Union Money Transfer Scam Now Available

If you were one of the many fraud victims who sent money to scammers via Western Union you can now apply to get that money back.

On Tuesday, Attorney General Chris Carr announced the Federal Trade Commission is asking those consumers to file a claim for a refund.

In January 2017, Western Union agreed to pay $586 million to resolve charges brought by the FTC and the U.S. Department of Justice.

According to the settlement, scammers from such illegal operations such as fake lottery prize scams, advance fee loans, and fake family emergencies would tell their victims to send them money using Western Union’s money transfer system.

The Settlement alleged Western Union knew of the problem and received hundreds of thousands of complaints about fraud-induced money transfers, but failed to promptly discipline problem Western Union agents and failed to put effective anti-fraud policies and procedures put in place.

“Criminal scam artists are adept at developing all kinds of schemes to convince consumers to wire them money,” said Attorney General Chris Carr. “Our Consumer Protection Unit will continue to fight back against scammers on behalf of Georgia consumers, and we are glad to see that money from this settlement will now be rightfully returned to those affected.”

If you think you were a victim of the Western Union money transfer scam you can file a claim on the FTC web site at https://www.ftc.gov/ before May 31st.