Wednesday, May 30, 2018
In 2017, Western Union agreed to pay $586 million dollars to consumers who used the company to wire money to scammers. Under the agreement negotiated between the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice and the company, victims who went to Western Union between 2004 and 2017 have until the end of this month to file a claim to try to get some money back.But con artists are relentless, and they are always looking for a new way to get their hands on someone else’s money. As last-minute filers try to beat the May 31st deadline, crooks are saying that they can get victims special access and provide easier ways to file their claims, and they’re promising big payouts. One fake email purporting to be from the FBI told victims they could get $500,000 just by providing a Gmail address.If you might be eligible for a refund from this settlement, bypass the crooks and go straight to FTC.gov/WU. It is free to file a claim, regardless of what a scammer might have told you. No one is guaranteed a refund, and the process of figuring out who gets what can only begin when all claims have been filed. There are no shortcuts, and the process will take a while. If you’ve been scammed once and the con artist used Western Union to get your money, don’t let yet another crook get his hands on refund money that rightfully belongs to you.If you encounter someone who is charging money to help victims get refunds, or making promises about how much they’ll get or claiming they can make it easier to file, report the crooks at www.http://www.ftc.gov/complaint.