CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey's office is reminding impacted consumers about the upcoming claim deadline in a $586 million forfeiture by Western Union Company.
The forfeiture, part of a settlement announced in January 2017, resolved a multistate investigation into consumer usage of the wire transfer service to send money in a wide variety of third-party scams. All completed claims forms must be mailed back to the settlement administrator by Thursday, May 31.
“It is crucial for impacted West Virginians to take action now in order to recoup their losses in this deceitful scam process,” Morrisey said. “Our office will continue to hold those who deceive consumers for financial gain accountable for their actions.”
Approximately 2,300 consumers living in West Virginia are eligible for refunds totaling $2.9 million.
Any victim of a fraud-induced transfer using Western Union between Jan. 1, 2004, and Jan. 19, 2017, may be eligible to receive compensation.
Many of those consumers have received claim forms in the mail, but anyone who did not receive a form in the mail and believes they may have an eligible claim may visit https://www.FTC.gov/WU or http://www.westernunionremission.com for more information on how to file a claim, in addition to calling 844-319-2124.
Western Union reached the settlement with West Virginia, 49 other states and the District of Columbia. It required the company to develop and implement a comprehensive anti-fraud program designed to help detect and prevent incidents where consumers, who have been the victims of fraud, use Western Union to wire money to scam artists.
Such schemes involve lottery and contest scams, grandparent scams and tax scams, all of which have been the subject of alerts issued by the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division.
The anti-fraud program, which Western Union agreed to evaluate and update as warranted, includes placing anti-fraud warnings on forms consumers use to wire money, training and educating Western Union’s agents about fraud-induced wire transfers and performing due diligence checks on Western Union agents who process money transfers among other elements.
Consumers who believe they may be affected by the Western Union settlement may also contact the West Virginia Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division at 1-800-368-8808, the Eastern Panhandle Consumer Protection Office in Martinsburg at 304-267-0239 or visit the office online at www.wvago.gov.
