Posts Tagged ‘ Moneygram Scam ’
What to do if you’ve Lost Money in a Moneygram Scam
February 10th, 2010. By AbiK
Many of you have written in about Moneygram scams. Unfortunately, in the aftermath of Moneygram’s court order to cough up $18 million to the FTC to settle charges of consumer fraud, we’re still receiving numerous accounts from readers who’ve been on the receiving end of a Moneygram scam and who are asking what they should do.
For background, the FTC had sued Moneygram, charging that agents from the money transfer service helped fraudulent telemarketers and con artists who tricked consumers into wiring in excess of $84M within US and Canada. The fraudulent activity occured between 2004 and 2008. The $84M in losses was based on consumer complaints that Moneygram received—and the FTC estimates that the figure is actually larger (i.e., not all victims would have filed a complaint with Moneygram).
First, the court order, from last October, is requiring Moneygram to not only pay the $18 million to the FTC—which
MoneyGram Scammed Us
November 6th, 2009. By janem
Back in July Pleading Ignorance looked at Moneygram and its involvement, if any, to consumer fraud. We really did plead ignorance because it turns out that Moneygram isn’t the reputable company we believed it to be. Although we weren’t scammed financially as countless unfortunate US consumers were, “The wool got pulled over our eyes”, as the old saying goes.
The FTC recently charged that the second-largest money transfer service in the US allowed its money transfer system to be used by fraudulent telemarketers to bilk consumers out of tens of millions of dollars. And it has to pay the FTC a hefty $18 million to compensate consumers.
That sounds like a lot of dough, but it’s a measly amount to pay back, considering that many consumers likely didn’t report a loss. And a recent FTC survey reported almost 80 percent of all MoneyGram transfers of $1,000 or more from the US to Canada over a four-month period in 2007 were fraud-induced.
And if that’s not enough to make you shake your head, MoneyGram itself received more than 20,600 fraud complaints that cost consumers more than $44 million to cross-border money-transfer frauds between 2004 and 2008 alone. Combine that with losses reported by U.S. consumers on money transfers within the US and that number almost doubles to a whopping $84 million! Cha-ching!
According to the FTC, MoneyGram knew that its network has been used over the last few years by telemarketing scammers to prey on US consumers. And worse, some MoneyGram agents were also scam artists but the money transfer service more or less turned a blind eye. Big mistake: the FTC had MoneyGram in its eagle eye.
This is how the scam works. Con artists prefer to use money transfer services because they can pick up transferred money immediately, the payments are often untraceable, and unknowing consumers can’t do anything about it. Until now, that is.
The FTC has a new Consumer Alert, available on its website, titled “Money Transfers Can Be Risky Business.” And consumers interested in the process of redress administration should call 1-202-326-3755.
What is a Moneygram Scam?
July 17th, 2009. By AbiK
Pleading Ignorance takes a look at Moneygram scams—what are they, what do you need to look out for?
First and foremost, it’s the misfortune of Moneygram—a reputable company—that its name rhymes with “scam”. Moneygram is probably best known for its money transfer and money order services. Western Union is perhaps a more well-known competitor to Moneygram, offering similar services. Regardless, any money order/transfer service can find itself in the middle of a scam operation—so the point here is not to point the finger at Moneygram. It’s to make you aware of those who try to put Moneygram’s services to illegal use—the scammers.
So Moneygram’s got the rhyming mishap, but…
What is a “Moneygram Scam”?
It’s a coined phrase that refers to a Consumer Fraud Scam. In all instances it involves a hapless victim sending money to a would-be relative, lover or bearer of good news (”have you claimed your sweepstakes prize?”).
Share this Page
Links
Archive by Category
- Accidents (RSS)
- Airlines (RSS)
- Asbestos Mesothelioma (RSS)
- Automotive (RSS)
- Class Action (RSS)
- Consumer Fraud (RSS)
- Court of Public Opinion (RSS)
- Defective Products (RSS)
- Drugs/Medical (RSS)
- Emerging Issues (RSS)
- Employment (RSS)
- Environment (RSS)
- Financial (RSS)
- Food Illness (RSS)
- Insurance (RSS)
- Intellectual Property (RSS)
- Internet/E-commerce (RSS)
- lawsuits (RSS)
- Lawyers (RSS)
- Lex Levity (RSS)
- Personal Injury (RSS)
- Pleading Ignorance (RSS)
- Securities (RSS)
- Settlement (RSS)
- Totally Tortelicious (RSS)
- Veterans (RSS)
- Week Adjourned (RSS)