Bank Of America - Western Unon - Consumer Research Group - AKAL Insurance - Michael D. Willis Michael D Willis Tried to take me for $1680.00 for a bogus survey Houston, Texas

Western Union was not born last night...but they act like they were. The funny thing is..if you "google" 'Western Union Scams"..it takes you to a link for "Western Union Consumer Fraud Scams"..and when you click on the link...it is a Western Union page for sending greeting cards.  If you google "Western Union Fraud"...it takes you to the same link.

Western Union - Consumer Fraud Scams

Click on the link above and see for yourself...

Now if you scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page..you will see the word "fraud". If you click on that..this information comes up...

Protect Yourself from Fraud. The Western Union Money Transfer service is a great way to send money to people you know and trust. If you need to send money to someone you dont know well, you may be putting yourself at risk for fraud.

Because we care about consumers, Western Union urges you to protect yourself from fraud by considering the following:

• Never send money to a stranger using a money transfer service.
  
• Beware of deals or opportunities that seem too good to be true.
  
• Dont use money transfer services to pay for things like online auction purchases.
  
• Never send money to pay for taxes or fees on foreign lottery winnings.
  
• Never send a money transfer, in the name of a friend or relative, with the intention of changing the name to someone you have not met personally.
  
• Never send a money transfer, in the name of a friend or relative, in order to delay payment of the transaction to someone you have not met personally.

If you think you've been a victim of fraud, contact us at 1-800-448-1492. 

So it appears if you "dig" through their website to the very bottom nether regions in small text you can find "instructions" on how to protect yourself...but nowhere is it implied Western Union provides any recourse..other then a phone number to call if you "think" you have been a victim.

So don't expect any help from them. They don't even provide comprehensive access if any to filing a fraud claim...much less offer any recourse. As long as everyone down the line got their fee...they are not concerned if the money transfer was used for theft, fraud, fleecing the vulnerable, heroin, illegal weapons, or any other illegal and/or illegitimate purposes.

It's not like this scam is anything new...but since W.U. will collect their fee regardless...I guess it is in "their" best interest to turn the other cheek from a financial standpoint.

Anytime you are offered money that requires you to send money...it is HIGHLY suspect and would trigger an internal alarm to most potential victims. For example...if this "company" required you to cash a check for $1,680.00 minus 200.00..they could have just sent you a check for $200.00 and not required you to do anything as far as sending funds. It seems they tried this scam on you previously and failed..and tried again and failed..good for you.

Unfortunately...many people do fall for this SCAM...and honestly..money is too precious and scarce these days to risk cashing checks for unknown entities and getting ripped off.

Hopefully by you reporting here..maybe it can prevent this from happening to others..but after witnessing this same scam going on for years..it seems reports still consistently come in regarding the same scam.

These scams keep going because they are profitable for Western Union and Moneygram. Think about it. Western Union and Moneygram could stop these scams dead in their tracks if they simply asked for a thumbprint and/or photo whenever money was picked up at any location.  Another measure would be to require that a specific location be specified when the money is sent. What scammers would submit to those security measures? They would lose the cloak of anonymity.

I suspect that some locations already do video surveillance as a general office security practice. The police should be able to access the videos and find scammers. The question is "Will They?".