Western Union Money Transfer - Beware !

[adimangla]

Hi Folks,

 

My fiance, who joined a reputed UK Bank last month was duped out of 1500 pounds when the money she transferred to an acquaintance through Western Union was collected by someone else.

 

The sad part is that the company failed to either verify the fraudster's details properly or to redress the problem that my fiance thus faced. Numerous rounds to police stations and Western Union offices have yielded no results and the police has refused to even lodge a formal complaint.

 

The reason why I'm posting this here is, that a police officer told her that they had been receiving an increased number of such complaints involving Western Union off late and had no system in place to deal with it.

 

Has anyone of you been in such trouble and what steps did you take to retrieve your money?

[qbal]

Never used western union, and never would either, but in my mind, if they have failed to verify the identity of the person collecting the money then they are at fault and should refund your loss.

 

According to their website, these are the procedures for collection:

15. How do I pick up a money transfer?

You may pick up your money transfer at any Agent location. You will need to complete a "To Receive Money" form with the following information:

• name
  
• address
  
• amount expected
  
• sender's name
  
• sender's telephone number
  
• city and state being sent from

Valid identification is also required.

 

Some restrictions may apply.

 

16. What is considered valid identification to pick up a money transfer?

Identification requirements are determined by your residency status and the amount of the money transfer.

 

For UK residents, a passport or driving license with photo is valid. For non-UK residents, a passport, country issued identification or driving license with photos is valid.

 

£600 to £1999.99: one form of primary identification verifying the full name.

 

Where no primary ID is presented: one form of primary identification verifying the full name (Birth certificate, etc.) and one form of non-primary identification verifying the current/permanent address (utility bill, a letter from a hostel manager confirming temporary residence, etc.)

 

For amounts from £2000 and above: one form of identification verifying the full name and one form of identification verifying the current/permanent address. The same document must not be used to verify both name and address.

 

Can you verify how you sent the money and whether you have any evidence that they didn't get the proper verification from the collector? If you can get enough evidence of fault together then you can take them to civil court for it. If they did not follow their procedure for verifying the collector then they have breached the contract they have with you.

 

As far as I know the police have no jurisdiction as there has been no crime committed unless someone can prove internal fraud (ie an employee is getting a friend to collect money by giving them details).

 

Any more info you can provide would help.

[Ann83]

I also have a bad experience with WU.

 

I have paid a deposit of 500 euros thru WU to somebody I havent seen.Ok, its my fault.

 

Then she wanted me to provide a proof that I would be able to pay the rent in the future, etc, so we have agreed that I'm going to send money to my friend (just fill out a form to my friends name) then she will have a look at it and if its OK I can cash the money...I even rang WU office if they are really requering ID, etc. When I went to the post office and paid this second instalment of 1100 euros, the lady has asked me an ID and filled out a form, put on my ID number, etc. I thought it was the normal way and this is how it should happen when somebody wants to pick up the money. So I put my friends name on it, and this girl or man was able to pick the money somehow.

 

 

It was not the first time, she keep sending out her fake passport as a proof since last year, and I still cant believe how the police cannot do anything.

 

I'd really like to sue WU, as it's just simple ridiculous, that it keep happening for ages. They are not warning their costumers that actually anybody can pick up the money, even without providing an ID.

 

I have lost 1700 euro alltogether. Garda just dont do anything.

 

 

Anybody has any idea pls???? I want to fight for my money and for the future victims as well...

[yourbank]

Are you a victim of the person who you sent the money to OR that Western Union allowed somebody who was not the beneficiary receiving the money?

Did the person who you sent the 1700 Euros con you or did WU allow someone else to pick up the money?(needed to clarify the question).

[Mrs.Wifey]

Hi Folks,

 

My fiance, who joined a reputed UK Bank last month was duped out of 1500 pounds when the money she transferred to an acquaintance through Western Union was collected by someone else.

 

The sad part is that the company failed to either verify the fraudster's details properly or to redress the problem that my fiance thus faced. Numerous rounds to police stations and Western Union offices have yielded no results and the police has refused to even lodge a formal complaint.

 

The reason why I'm posting this here is, that a police officer told her that they had been receiving an increased number of such complaints involving Western Union off late and had no system in place to deal with it.

 

Has anyone of you been in such trouble and what steps did you take to retrieve your money?

 

 

My husband and I have used WU numerous times! I'm quite surprised that you've had this problem---it sounds quite fishy, to be honest. I mean, how did somebody else even KNOW that you'd sent the money?

 

My mother lives overseas and often sends money as a gift. She has to provide ID and an address just to send it, and she receives a confirmation number. When we collect the money (receive it) we have to put the confirmation number and show ID, and it's not just a case of flashing a driver's license either! The clerk takes the ID and enters in a ton of info and verifies everything in the computer, then she asks for either me or my husband's profession. When we've used hole-in-the-wall WU points (some small corner shops actually have WU), the money cannot be collected without phoning WU and giving details of the ID and verifying everything.

 

Hence why I think something is very fishy. :-|

[BOF1951]

Very strange!

 

I use Western Union to send money to my son in Europe and have never had a single problem. I set up an online account with WU and it is very easy to use and, so far, very secure.

 

I set the amount to be sent, who to and where it is to be picked up. I then get an email with a free telephone number to call; I answer some questions and the money is released. I get a reference number which I then text to my son. It takes about 10 minutes in total.

 

I do not know what happened here, but there is definitely something wrong somewhere!

 

BOF

[Ann83]

Dear yourbank,

 

im trying to clarify the situation:

 

this person put an ad on the internet, she was advertising an apartment and i have decided to take it however i have only seen pictures. so i have sent 500 euros deposit to her. Later on i hav found out that it was a [problem], as they were using someone else ID. I mean the name of the girl is Louise, and she was a victim as well last year. she appplied for a flat paid and lost the dposit and has sent her copy of passport to the thief and now they are keep using her ID, and put fake ads on the internet. but this passport has never been stolen, and it has been changed last year. obvoiusly i have sent a copy of the prrof to this person so she or he could pick up the money. but im wondering how as she or he only had a copy of passport which is no longer valid.

 

then i made a second payment cause she / he wanted to see if i had money to pay the rent. i was not happy with this idea, but we have agreed that i would put my friend name as the receiver so she/he wont be able to pick up the money however she/he wanted to check if the money is available so i have sent again the proof. she/he knew who im sending the money to, but even wu told me on the phone that they would ALWAYS reqire a valid ID so I felt safe in this situation. once i have sent her/him the proof my money has been collected 2 hrs later. so its two different stories. wu keep mailing me and say that they are not dealing with it and will transfer my query to france to UK everywhere. the police doesnt do anything, but I think Ill go to the court.

 

if anybody has ever sued wu; please tell me the outcome. im just afraid even if im right i wont be able to win against a such a big company.thanks

ann

[yourbank]

Why are you wanting to sue Western Union when they have simply followed the details that you have given to them. You are a victim of a classic [problem]. You do need to report it to the police and get some advice on how to proceed. I am afraid you would have to prove that Western Union were party to the fraud. I wish you had taken some advice from here PRIOR to sending money. I would have said as many others would that it is a [problem].

Did you pay cash or did you pay by credit card?

As soon as Western Union is mentioned as a payment method, my "[problem] ALERT" radar switches on especially the circumstances.

[gadgetgirl79]

I also have a bad experience with WU.

 

I have paid a deposit of 500 euros thru WU to somebody I havent seen.Ok, its my fault.

 

Then she wanted me to provide a proof that I would be able to pay the rent in the future, etc, so we have agreed that I'm going to send money to my friend (just fill out a form to my friends name) then she will have a look at it and if its OK I can cash the money...I even rang WU office if they are really requering ID, etc. When I went to the post office and paid this second instalment of 1100 euros, the lady has asked me an ID and filled out a form, put on my ID number, etc. I thought it was the normal way and this is how it should happen when somebody wants to pick up the money. So I put my friends name on it, and this girl or man was able to pick the money somehow.

 

 

It was not the first time, she keep sending out her fake passport as a proof since last year, and I still cant believe how the police cannot do anything.

 

I'd really like to sue WU, as it's just simple ridiculous, that it keep happening for ages. They are not warning their costumers that actually anybody can pick up the money, even without providing an ID.

 

I have lost 1700 euro alltogether. Garda just dont do anything.

 

 

Anybody has any idea pls???? I want to fight for my money and for the future victims as well...

 

 

The rent [problem] using WU is a common one, and if you google it, you'll find 100s of others who have sent money to a friend to "verify that they can pay the rent", and then low and behold the money disappears and someone else has taken it out.

 

Here's a few examples:

Netcred Security Centre: Western Union Fraud

flat deposit [problem] with western union

Flat rent - Western Union possible [problem] in The AnswerBank: Home & Garden

 

Perhaps you should try and get in touch with other victims?

[Ann83]

I know now theres plenty of stories on the internet, but people are not aware of it until something wrong happens.

 

thats fair enough my fault that i sent money to somebody i didnt know; but thats why i rang WU before making the transfer to make sure that they would require a valid ID. As i have also provided an ID when I sent the mony and they have even put it down on the paper. the number of my ID; expiry date, date of birth; etc. SO i really want to know the same info. they are just simply liar cause they didnt say a word about it on their website or on the phone "be aware, people can pick up your money if they know the MTCN number".

 

i have spoken to the mother of the girl who was scammed last year (her copy of passport has been sent to me) she is in the same city as me but hasnt contacted me yet....

 

police is just simply slow they are not really interested.

 

wu is the same, they say to contact Wu France; then WU UK; then the post office as i have sent my money from a post office, now i have received a mail to contact them again by phone for further assistance.... no comment...

 

i still believe they need to prove that they have paid my money to the correct person. if they wont be able to tell me then i will sue them. its part of their job. i paid a huge amount for fees 36 +50 euros; for this money they dont do anything??

[rabbitfoot]

heres my experience, tho i wasnt convinced enough to hand over the money:

 

rental 1: the landlord got angry when i asked him for bank transfer instead of using western union, because of all the scams around, its too strange, think about it, why would he insist on receiving less(after deducting WU fee) and go through the trouble of having to pick it up at WU office over the ease and comfort of full sum money directly in his bank? oh, if he gets mad now, and start shouting that my concern for scams is an INSULT! then how am i going to deal with him once i do become his tanent?

 

another point, he said hes just finished a job in england, yet i may view the property 'only on the outside'!? well, i d presume that even if he doesnt want to use an agent, he d prehaps has a friend or two who could show me the place despite that hes out of town, that is, if he did worked in england, it isnt convincing to me that he knows no one, em... not only fishy, but aggressive, too! i dropped that one faster than hot spud!

 

rental 2: also asked for western union, and this one asks for a 1 year lease, well, does she expect me to pay her monthly via western union, instead of auto-pay, sure and secure via bank? quite illogical!

 

and she mentioned too, having her family lawyer to handle the documents, i thought to myself, if you have the money to hire a family lawyer, why are you on this free rental site? and not an estate agent instead? perhaps she thought it sounds more reliable mentioning that it involves a lawyer, but, well, not sure its just me being sceptical, to me, it raises more doubt than realiability.

 

i havent taken up any of these two offers and dont think i will as long as they give me enough reasons to doubt, so to sum up, i d say if not using an agent, the more acceptable option is that you check the rental, meet the landlord(seeing that he has the house lease), and preferably, rent via bank only(banks do a better securiy check than western union does).

 

goodluck to us all!

[MARTIN3030]

To be fair Western Union have been in their business for a long time.They are obviously aware of all the scams and presumably their systems are geared up to address them.

They may have been the original money transfer outfit but these days they have lots of competition -The Post Office Moneygram service being one such rival.

It would be logical to assume that the security aspect forms the core of their business,so it would be hard to believe that they did not take seriously any compromise.

 

I have used them myself and also Moneygram which I found offered a better rate.

There are scams operating in every walk of life-Western Union cant be held responsible if their procedures arent followed by the sender or their recieving agents.

[rabbitfoot]

this thread isnt as much against western union, as its about who use western union for what, i myself used it when i lost my wallet on holiday, and i must admit that western union did a fabulous job in sending over some money real quick to save my life, while bank is slow and not a pat in comparision in such regard, however, with such speed and ease, pls read also reply nr.3, scams arent slow to take full advantages of it neither! once again, we re not saying its western union who did the [causing problems], but rather, those scams who abuse western union to trick the un-awared's! tho in the case of ann83, i see too, that western union should take their responsibility of having given the money to the wrong person.

Edited March 8, 2009 by rabbitfoot

[MARTIN3030]

But Western union operate their business through agents that was my point,its the agents who release the money at the other end who should be doing their job-although I am not up to speed with the inns and outs of contractual responsibilities with WU I would guess its not straightforward.

 

I have been kept waiting more than once to make a transaction because it involves a series of actions-one of which is a coded flipwheel that I have never seen used anywhere else.

 

The determined [EDIT] who has insider knowledge or tools to infiltrate will always find a way-its part of life.

[fishdogg]

hi people i would strongly advise people to carry out every possible detail using the western union, the only thing i cant get my head round is why all the [problematic] insist on using the wu to do there transaction scams, i was almost doomed into transfering 120 pounds to a company in cameroon, for the delivery of a siberian husky pup, which was alledgedly coming from kirkwall in scotland, i did ask the owners why my payment was going to cameroon instead of the so called petexpress cargo delivery service,they then told me thats was where it was run from, anyone dealing with a, anita baker should not hand over any money what so ever, it is a total [problem], and therefor would never deal with wu for any reason, i am so glad i looked into it for over a week before i realised it was a con, and cant believe nothing can be done about these people. anonymous

[ss1987]

the last time i will ever use this company!!! I made a transaction from uk to pakistan...and note it was a repeat transaction as in i had sent money to this reciever before and it wasn't a problem. So now this time they want me to ring up to process it. When i rang they wanted the recievers id... So when i asked how they store the id on their systems they refused to tell me because it was "sensitive information" yet apparently what i was sending wasn't. When i refused to send the id because i wasn't too comfortable with their security procedure....they put the money on hold and said unless i provided id of the reciever nothing would happen and they wouldn't even cancel. The telesales team including the supervisor were so damn rude it's not even funny....they don't listen....they speak on top of you and they were laughing at the back. Total bunch of morons!!!

Edited December 18, 2010 by IdaInFife
reduced text size as was hurting my eyes

[Annoying Twit]

My husband and I have used WU numerous times! I'm quite surprised that you've had this problem---it sounds quite fishy, to be honest. I mean, how did somebody else even KNOW that you'd sent the money?

 

Inside job?

[Surfer01]

There is a (s c a m) going around involving WU. It works this way. You see an ad and reply to it. The advertsier states that they have had a lot of tiem wasters and requests that in order to prove you have the money, you go to WU and do a money transfer to a friend, relative or any one know to you. You then send them a copy of the form so that they know you have the money to do the deal. They even say that you can hide all personal details. The next thing you know is that the money has been taken and the advertiser has disappeared.

[fedupofthisdebt]

there is a lot of scams around Western union these days....either they withdraw your money the other end...after an MTCN whisper...or they cancel your transaction if you have done it online !....then your money is hanging somewhere(that's when western union decides not to refund due to @technical error@preventing them.

Then you would be lost,your money is out of your account,the bank did not have it,your receiver did not see it...western union who took it out,didn't know where it went!strange!

My advice if you have to use WU pay it through a good credit card,that way you know they are messing with the bank's money!!!!!!

[raydetinu]

I have used WU twice and all went well, how can you collect money without the correct ID, and the unique transfer no.!! from the correct place!

I was receiving money in Barcelona and could only collect at the correct branch ( there are at least four in Barcelona ). as I tried and they would not give it to me as I went to wrong one in error.

[Purpleflowers 2]

Western Union do not use it sending money to people you do not know as you may end up losing your money - use escrow or a credit card

[aburobert]

I have and still use Western Union to send large and small sums of money to both Ghana and Rwanda. In the many transactions made I have never ever had any problems with Western Union. So long as you use common sense when sending the money there should be no chance of fraud. When a transaction goes wrong it is not the fault of Western Union but usually of the person using the service. Never ever send money to someone you do not know or share the transaction details with anyone else. The receiver usually has to jump through several hoops before getting the money - they need to prove who they are (photo id like passport etc required, they need the MTN number and there is usually a secret question and answer that the recipient needs to know. If another party has this information then it can only be the fault of the person sending the money - it must be their security at fault - not Western Union's. You can hardly blame them if you have been swindled by someone as they are only the conduit for your money and have really no interest or involvement in its end use.

 

The security at the other end I have found excellent - in fact I had real problems because of Western Union's security when I was stranded in Ghana after missing a flight from Accra to London. My wife had to send me the money to buy a new ticket which Western Union would not release even though I could prove who I was (passport). I knew the MTN number and could answer the security question and answer BUT the latter was not correctly written down - the spelling was wrong. The question was 'name of dog' and the answer was 'Crystal. But my wife spelt it Krystal for some reason only known to herself! Fortunately I called my wife and got through just before the local WU office closed and managed to get the correct spelling and the money was then released.

Edited January 12, 2014 by aburobert

[Jake_Disra]

Western Union is a strange business. The company is well known as a large (huge?) money transfer business. Yet, if you call customer care the person at WU inevitably sounds much like a clueless git who can only answer questions that most likely an 12 year old could answer after minimal coaching and the promise of something a 12 year old would hold dear (no idea what that would be). Either customer service doesn't know how their own financial system works or they are kept ignorant for a reason.

 

In addition, who coded their web site? Especially this WU pay service. Look at it this way, if a company knows they are going to have to interface with large banks and complete electronic deals with those banks, wouldn't it be a good idea to have a more sophisticated interface for sender's to complete? Some directions of how to complete transfers without sending up red flags for the banks being withdrawn on?

 

Of course if I wanted to go to an agent and drop off cash that would work no problem. The real value of WU is not paying a large cash fee, but paying a small electronic fee...Thus, with WU Pay and bank transfers a cluster phuuk there is limited value for Western Union as it just takes to long to figure out the way to send some money.