Contacting Western Union and MoneyGram

[Elena]

dontuwish,

Wow. Good job!

Well, I wonder what can we all learn from THIS example?

[Zapo]

Hi all,

Here is the response letter from WU after sending an e-mail through my account website.I also called them,and was told that their security department does not give out any details on how they handle these complaints:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SPOOF <spoof@westernunion.com>
Wednesday, September 23, 2009 12:40 PM
RE: Report online fraud (#8770-146946952-3276)

Hello xxxxx

Thank you for contacting Western Union. We are writing regarding your inquiry.

Western Unions business is to transfer funds from a sender to a receiver within minutes. We caution our customers against sending money to people they do not know. We have forwarded this matter to our internal Security Department for handling.

For more information, please visit our home page and select the "Learn More Here" link listed under the "Protect Your Hard Earned Money " section. Western Union strongly advises you to report any incident of suspected fraud from an Internet website to the FBI Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) at http://www.ic3.gov.

If you have any additional comments or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at customerservice@westernunion.com.

Sincerely,
Abraham A.
Customer Service Representative
http://www.westernunion.com.



-----Original Message-----
From: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sent: Sep 22, 2009 4:27:44 PM
Subject: Report online fraud

Name: XXXXX XXXXXXXX
Email: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Order Number:
Order Date:
Question: I am writing to you to inform you that Irina Goretska is a registered scammer.She has taken over $10,000 in money transfers from me over a 3 year period.If she is receiving money transfers from other men,they are being scammed also.She has claimed in the past the need for money to pay for operations,and sickness.These conditions did not exsist.and she was using the monies for living expenses.I would like to have her stopped from receiving wu money transfers,and to notify other money transfer agencies of her scams. I am pursuing this matter with the Ukraine police,and other goverment authorities.<br/><br/>Thank You



ZAPO

[Elena]

Very often, instead of prohibiting transfers to certain individuals, WU attaches warning to their names so that the sender, if he is sending money by phone, can be warned by the sales representative that there is a warning. Maybe they will at least do that. Let's hope!

[simongilks]

just out of interest - i live in the UK - i used the Freephone number on the back of the receipts - that's 0800 833 833 - and twice now i've had to ring up for information about where the money i sent via WU was picked up. on both occasions i had no problems with the representatives i spoke with from the Fraud Department. they were both helpful in that they gave me the necessary email address to send my request in writing to - and in one case i also received a Call ID - to help expedite the reply - but in both cases it took about two weeks to receive the information i was after from Fexco - the company behind Western Union...

[kindhearted]

MoneyGram International requires a search warrant or subpoena to release this information.
If you wish to send a subpoena please send it to the address listed in my signature. If you have any questions please feel free to call me.
Sincerely,
Judson Ballentine
Compliance Specialist
MoneyGram International, Inc.
1550 Utica Ave. South
M.S. GO2-1508
Minneapolis, MN 55416
(763)549-7284 Phone
(763)549-7349 Fax
JBallentine@moneygram.com

[Elena]

just out of interest - i live in the UK - i used the Freephone number on the back of the receipts - that's 0800 833 833 - and twice now i've had to ring up for information about where the money i sent via WU was picked up. on both occasions i had no problems with the representatives i spoke with from the Fraud Department. they were both helpful in that they gave me the necessary email address to send my request in writing to - and in one case i also received a Call ID - to help expedite the reply - but in both cases it took about two weeks to receive the information i was after from Fexco - the company behind Western Union...

simongilks,

Thank you very much for sharing! I am glad that you had such a good experience with them.

[Elena]

MoneyGram International requires a search warrant or subpoena to release this information.
If you wish to send a subpoena please send it to the address listed in my signature. If you have any questions please feel free to call me.
Sincerely,
Judson Ballentine
Compliance Specialist
MoneyGram International, Inc.
1550 Utica Ave. South
M.S. GO2-1508
Minneapolis, MN 55416
(763)549-7284 Phone
(763)549-7349 Fax
JBallentine@moneygram.com

Judson,

Thank you very much! I must say that I am most pleased to see a representative from MoneyGram joining the discussion!

I have a question to you, if I could. Actually, a couple of questions:

1) I have heard of several people that were able to receive information about the city where the money was picked up from MG without a subpoena. Would it be possible for them to obtain this information without it?

2) Have MoneyGram decision-makers ever considered the fact that, in case with international transfers, the alleged crimes (committed by dating scammers, lottery scammers, bank transfer scammers, etc) will be committed in the country other than the sender's country, and, as a result, obtaining a subpoena from another (possibly third-word country) would be rather problematic for the sender?

The reason I am asking is because I have many scam victims who decided not to file criminal complaints because they felt betrayed, first by the scammer, then by the Western Union / MoneyGram policies, and third by the their local police' lack of interest in the case (when they tried to obtain their local police' cooperation in obtaining subpoena). The general feeling of hopelessness to "fight the system(s)" is very common among pretty much all the victims whom I worked with, and it is very hard for me to keep their motivation and their spirits up after so many initial set-backs.

So, for a long time I have been wondering why would WU and MG want to prohibit their clients from finding out the location of the payoff? I know that you are probably not among those people who put this policy in place, but in general, I would be very grateful if you could provide us with some background on this issue.

Again, thank you very much for joining the board and taking part in a conversation!

[simongilks]

UK citizens can sign this petition if they like.

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/InterFraud/

it's a little off topic but still relevant i think.

[romsed]

I would have thought it was common sense to let the victim know where the crimes took place, but then again there is always data protection requirements. 'Family politics' and squabbles, can result in people claiming to be 'victims' to find out the location of the other party, if that makes any sense.

So, for a long time I have been wondering why would WU and MG want to prohibit their clients from finding out the location of the payoff? I know that you are probably not among those people who put this policy in place, but in general, I would be very grateful if you could provide us with some background on this issue.

[romsed]

Last year moneygram got fined $18 million for allowing fraudlent activities that went through under its umbrella. Perhaps the authorities need to take more action, fine the likes of Western Union and moneygram to weed out such activities. Though they are probabaly doing their bit, its users being scammed is not good for them, but perhaps they can do a lot more.

[Elena]

Romsed,

Do you know the details of the case? Was it in the USA? Do you know the name of the case?

[cwuzing4u2]

hello everyone this is cwuzing4u2!
I'am new to this area of the post, so when we call WU and ask them where the money is pick up
then what good does it do those damn scammers already took off with our money? so am I missing anything?
most of you have or have not read my post regarding this women name Amber Smith. would love to know
if its really her or some Nigerian dude that took my money?? comment or suggetions are welcome! thank you all

cwuzing4u2

[FrumpyBB]

"Nigerian dude".

Disclaimer: please understand that you are NOT looking at the pictures of people who are actually scamming you! The people portrayed on these photos are innocent men and women, NOT invloved in scamming in any way and have nothing to do with scammers! The scammers are using their images without their knowledge and permission to deceive their victims and scam them out of money.

^^Which part of this do you not understand? You yourself posted the Nigeria IPs! Man, give up the false hopes

[Marisa]

to add to what Frumpy said: cwuzing4u2, you are not paying attention. This is a RUSSIAN section of the site. NOT NIGERIAN. With Nigerians, it really doesn't matter were the money is picked. With Russians it does, because unlike Nigerians, they DO occasionally get caught and prosecuted, and Elena Garrett's agency is working on it.

People, pay attention. The board is divided into sections for a REASON.

[Firefly21]

WU doesn't really care too much about fraud because whether you send to a scammer or to a legitimate person they get their fees.

The bottom line is NEVER send money to someone you have not met in person and even after meeting in person be extremely careful. That's my experience.