Has anyone else been scammed by Western Union?

[Darina]

Hi, Just wondering if anyone has been scammed through western union?If so, what did you do?
Just happened to me and i'm devasted!

[wolvesfc1]

Hi, Just wondering if anyone has been scammed through western union?If so, what did you do?
Just happened to me and i'm devasted!

can you tell us how please

[AL JAY]

Just had a look online and there are lots of Warnings regarding Western Union scams...See Below

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 don’t know well, you may be putting yourself at risk for fraud.

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.
Don’t 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 Western Union

[candy2411]

I've only used Western Union once, when my brother had his wallet stolen in Los Cris.....

I sent him some cash and he was able to pick this up within 10 mins of me handing over the cash in UK to a travel agent who offered W U services.

I had to give a password when I handed over the money and then ring my brother in tenerife to tell him same.

Worked perfectly for us so I'm intrigued as to what's gone wrong, and really hope you get your money back if its not your fault.

[slodgedad]

Hi, Just wondering if anyone has been scammed through western union?If so, what did you do?
Just happened to me and i'm devasted!

Can you give us some more details?

[Darina]

Apologies guys, I was out for awhile, what happened was I went to my local travel agents also western union agent and asked them about transferring money to Tenerife to my friends name, as it was as proof to a landlord that I could pay for an apartment. I then asked was it secure sending a copy of the reciept they gave me as proof and was told yes only the person I send it to with ID proof can collect it and that it would be held for 45 days, after this I emailed on the reciept to the landlord and next thing I knew my money was picked up outside Madrid with the person I sent it to in Co. Galway in Ireland. I lost €800.00 of my savings and have been told it'll be 20 days before WU can do anything for me. They clearly told me it was a safe and secure way of transferring money. I have looked online and i've seen a lot of people which this has happened too, I just want other people to be aware also because i'm so upset and disgusted.

[nigelmercier]

So you sent the document to the landlord, and he got his mate in Madrid to cash it?

[Darina]

I sent a scanned copy of it as directed by the WU agent and it was picked up outside Madrid apparently.


I guess I should have researched it myself!

[tomvey80]

So, what is Westeren Union saying? This is the first time I heard a story like this. A lot of my friends use WU to send money to India and so on...

[Darina]

The WU are saying I have to wait for there investigation team to get in touch with me which will probably take 20 days, other than that she just apologised, the lady I spoke with couldn't tell me much, I asked where exactly it was picked up and all she could tell me was the town that again I would have to wait for the investigation team to get back to me.

[Simon-M]

This is a common scam and has been going on for years.

http://boardreader.com/thread/flat_deposit_scam_with_western_union_8tzeX32g6.htm l
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100824144805AAoGW4a

[Darina]

I have seen that now but I thought it was safe and secure especially when advised by the agent that it was!

[Muppet]

So, it's not a western union scam then, it is a scabby load of peeps looking on the net for property to let, then jumping in.

Mind you, I must receive 6 emails a day from PayPal telling me my account has been "Limmited" - note the spelling! Nothing is safe these days

[Darina]

Well no its not a scam by them essentially but people who use western union, although I do hold blame to WU for advising me on what I did.
Its actually frightening how much evil is in the world today.
I mainly posted about this because i'd hate to read about it happening to someone else!

[Balcony]

Darina, I think, sadly, you've been scammed by the 'landlord'. This has been circulating for some time.

Often they just ask you to send money to a friend as proof you've got it, then send them a copy of the receipt. That way, they explain, you can easily get your money back from your friend, but they can see you do have that amount of money. But the receipt contains the very reference number they need to go into any WU outlet and pick up the money and this they do in super-quick time!

Western Union 'shops' can simply be someone who has a booth in another kind of establishment, such as an internet cafe. They are not all owned and operated by WU. Some may be very lax in establishing the identity of the person to whom the money is supposed to be sent, but if it is collected 'on line' with just the presentation of the transaction ID......bye-bye money.

[Darina]

I know, its horrible to think I have lost all that money just before I move over! It was a travel agents I put the money through in so I guess it could be the same the other side! I just hope its followed up!

[penelope pitstop]

Out of curiosity, why do you have to wait 20 days,did they say?