Western Union Someone else picked up our Western Union money transfer with a fake ID and we cannnot get it back. No response from Western Union. Englewood Colorado
On October 3, 2012, we sent $4,000 throught Western Union to Gonzalo Sanchez-Ubanell. My son was going to study abroad in Madrid, Spain and needed the money once there to settle (books, look for an apartment etc). He arrived in Madrid, Spain on October 8, 2012. He went to collect the money and they told him that it was picked up on October 5!!!! Since then it has been an uphill battle with Western Union and they are not refunding us the money. After a complaint they concluded that the money was "release to someone with the pertinent information and a gobernment ID". We told them that the recipient was not even in the country (Spain) at the moment of the pick up. We could produce plane ticket, passports stamps of entry etc. They do not care. They even sugested that we are triying to rip off Western Union triying to collect twice. They do not give us additional information either like the copy of the supposelly "ID" that the thief presented to collect the money based on the premises that "We have to protect" the privacy of their clients (a thief)!!!
1 Updates & Rebuttals
John
Memphis,Tennessee,
U.S.A.
The Scammers Choice
#2Consumer Suggestion
Tue, October 23, 2012
Why do you think Western Union has historically been the scammers choice worldwide? Non-existant security measures for one. You know Western Union makes a substantial profit on funding scams with their worldwide service.
They could end these scams rather easily by requiring a thumbprint and digital photo when money is picked up. Unfortunately, that would kill off some easy profit in the process.
Simple fix.......... never use WU