Western Union allowed someone to pick up my money with a fake ID...

[prezkelly24]

On 8/27/2007 I used Western Union to send a money transfer in the amount of $2600. I made this transfer for a purchase. As it turns out, I was scammed. When I filed a fraud report with Western Union, it was the most difficult thing I have ever done. There was no empathy from the associates and I got the same attitude from everyone I spoke with which was you are dumb for using a money transfer for a purchase. I was not familiar with money transfer scams and when the money was sent, there was nothing mentioned to me as far as "know your recipient" and "don't send money to someone you don't know", which I was told when I made the fraud report. It was a little late for the warning Western Union! Also when I made the report, I was treated like the criminal. I could not talk about the transfer because I put it in my husband's name because it suppose to be a present for him. He could not talk about the transfer because I had used my ID to send the money. When I FINALLY got someone on the phone to help, I asked what security measures they take to prevent fraud and how I could get the information from Western Union about the person who scammed me. I got no answer about fraud prevention. Also Western Union does not have any way to check if the ID of someone picking up money is real. Even when I go to the gas station, they swipe your ID on a machine to make sure it is real, yet Western Union deals with millions of dollars in money transfers and doesn't use anything like this to protect their customers. My money had been picked up by someone who presented a fake ID. This was confirmed by the Kissimmee Police Department. Though Western Union's website states that a VALID ID is required to send or receive money, the person was still able to pick up my money with a fake ID. I feel that Western Union holds a lot of liability in this case. I expected to be protected by such a well known and respected company, but instead I had the worst experience of my life!

Because their policies state that a valid id is required to send and receive any money transfers and they failed to comply with their own policies, should I take them to small claims court for my money back?

 

[presutin]

Western Union is not an agency that is supposed to verify if all the ID's used to make transactions are valid or not. Unfortunately, you took the risk and lost your money... No case here. Good Luck!

 

[Duranie]

you got scammed and should NEVER wire money for any purchase, or service, or anything, especially if it to someone outside the US. It is not Western Unions fault you got scammed.

I am not sure what is what you bought, but these scams have been around for years. You have no case against WU it is not their job to make sure people are legit.

I have no idea why you think you have a case against WU. You should sue the person that scammed you and file the appropriate police reports, FBI, etc..

 

[Duranie]

Also even if this person did have a valid ID...you were still scammed and you would still be out the money. Sure you could maybe file charges then, and sue that person but it does not mean you would get any of the money recovered.