Western Union, Wire Fraud, Pennsylvania 2017

HARRISBURG, PA – In a major victory for over 109,000 victims of an international consumer fraud scheme, the Western Union Remission Fund has begun its first distribution of approximately $153 million in funds forfeited to the U.S. government from Western Union.

These victims, many of whom included elderly individuals who were victims of consumer fraud and abuse, will be recovering the full amount of their losses.

“Money Transfer Businesses such as Western Union are particularly susceptible to misuse by scammers,” said U.S. Attorney David J. Freed for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. “In nearly every case of this nature that we have encountered in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, money transfer businesses are used to facilitate the crimes. Working together with MLARS and the skilled and dedicated investigators of the Postal Inspection Service, we have achieved outstanding results – bringing fraudsters to justice and holding businesses such as Western Union accountable. In addition to increased fraud detection and protections, an integral part of that accountability involves Western Union making victims whole. $153 Million is a good start.”

The $153 million distribution announced today brings some measure of justice for the elderly and other victims who were financially harmed by the fraudulent schemes in this case,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Department remains resolute in its efforts to not only prevent fraud from occurring in the first place, but also to find and return ill-gotten gains.”

“The losses and the number of victims in this case are staggering. This initial disbursement will provide relief to more than 100,000 individuals, who lost $153 million,” said Assistant Postal Inspector in Charge John Walker of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Philadelphia Division. “Some lost their life’s savings as a result of these scammers. Postal Inspectors continue to be out front when it comes to investigating these con men and in protecting American citizens from them. Today, we are happy to play a third role—returning money to those who were scammed. Delivering justice, and in this case, delivering restitution.”

“Western Union turned a blind eye to the fraudulent payments made through its money transfer system,” said Andrew Smith, Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “We’re glad to be returning money to those consumers who were ripped off by fraudsters exploiting the Western Union system, and we will not tolerate Western Union or other payments companies facilitating fraud.”

In 2017, Western Union entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the United States. Pursuant to the DPA, Western Union acknowledged responsibility for its criminal conduct, which included violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and aiding and abetting wire fraud, and agreed to forfeit $586 million, which has been made available to compensate victims of the international consumer fraud scheme through the remission process. Western Union simultaneously resolved a parallel civil investigation with the Federal Trade Commission.

In this case, fraudsters specifically targeted seniors through primarily three distinct scams. First, in grandparent scams, the fraudster would pose as the victim’s relative, usually a grandchild, in need of immediate money to avoid personal harm such as a payment for medical expenses or ambulatory transportation. Second, in lottery or sweepstakes scams, victims received phone calls telling them that they had won large cash prizes but had to pay fees such as taxes to claim the prize. Many of these victims were re-victimized several times, as they were told to transfer large sums of money in multiple transactions on the promise that they would receive the prize.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdpa/pr/department-justice-begins-first-distribution-funds-recovered-through-asset-forfeiture