Breaking down what MN HF0343 will really do for you

I know that a lot of you who read this blog and come to our website do so because you consider yourself the “average consumer” and know you can come to us to get the real information on things, without all of the legal or technical terms that only end up confusing you even more.  Recently I told you about Minnesota Bill HF0343, but let's look at it even closer.

Yes, you can do a search for Minnesota Bill HF0343 and find the online information, which allows you to read the bill text as it was introduced. Let me save you the time of searching . . . just click here and here for the State's information on this Bill.  Unless you have a background in law, you might read this and say “So what does that really mean, for me?”

In 2007 the MN Department of Alcohol and Gambling started a website called http://www.mnscams.org/ Why is the Department of Alcohol and Gambling even interested in scams and fraud? When Minnesotans were becoming victims of Lottery Scams, they began to reach out to the Minnesota Department of Alcohol and Gambling for assistance. In the video below you can watch an in-depth report on the great lengths that Minnesota law enforcement went to in order to track down these scammers.



This Bill would give the Department of Alcohol and Gambling greater power to subpoena and increase the variety of variations of these scams that the Department would have power to then go after.

This Bill will focus in on money transmitters, like Western Union and Money Gram, would have to have a anti fraud program, including a background check of agents and employees. This will raise the bar for these companies, and force them to look at the way that all of their authorized location are operating, and if one of those location are not upholding the rules and standards set forth, the company can be held accountable. If you have read up on scams and fraud, you have heard the stories of the employees working in a variety of businesses that have “turned a blind eye” to the fact that there are fraudulent transactions filtering through their company only to say “there is nothing we can do about it”. Even worse, there are cases when the employee is actually profiting from the scam.

In 2009 the FTC investigated Money Gram on charges that it allowed their system to be used for fraudulent activity. Money Gram ended up paying $18 million to settle.  According to the FTC, Money Gram was aware of the issue and turned a blind eye to the problem. There are many variations of the scams, and while businesses that carry out wire transfers do normally have information about these scams on their websites or on the bottom of their transfer forms, in very small print, these are normally not things that the average customer will see before they become a victim. This Bill will force for more attention to be put on this issue on the defensive side by spotting the warning signs and helping the customer to see them also. Really, it is about good customer service.

The part of this Bill that I am most impressed with is the portion that addresses that the money should go to who you designate on the form, and that they must pick it up where you designate. Now this might sound obvious . . . of course you want the money to go to the person you intended for it to go to, and to where you sent it, but it is not that simple. Right now, if I send money via wire transfer to Joe Schmo in Dallas, Texas and someone else knows the Wire Transfer Number and the Secret Question and Answer, they can pick up that money in any location in the world without having to show valid identification.   The Better Business Bureau pointed out this fact in one of their warnings on this type of scam.

How is this possible?!?!?! Well, here is the reasoning behind this “loophole”. What if my friend Joe Schmo had his wallet stolen, so he did not have any valid identification with him that he could show, and he needed that money to pay his bills. Joe would need a way to “prove” that he knew about the wire transfer and that it was intended for him. If I give him the Wire Transfer Number and tell him what the Secret Question and Answer are, he will now have that information, right? Problem solved. Wrong! Now you have just created a NEW problem. What if someone who is not Joe gets a hold of that information? They too can now go and pick up that wire transfer anywhere in the world, and once the money is picked up the transfer cannot be reversed . . . the money is gone.

The scammers understand this, and they use it to their advantage. They can use a pretend name and tell you that they live within the United States. They can tell you that you are sending the money to someone that is their accountant, client or shipping company . . . whatever fits their story that they have used to bait you into this scam. All of the warning signs of a scam alert you to sending money overseas, but you are just sending money to a shipping company in New York, so what do you have to worry about. This Bill would help to close that loophole and require that your money is only being sent to who you designate and that they are where you designate that they are.

It is sad that the scammers know all of this information better than the average American, but this is why these scams work so well. Besides the truth about how the money transfer businesses work, another point that the scammers seem to be better educated on than the average American is how the check clearing process works.

This is why we at Scam Victims United have been working since 2002 to educate people on scams and fraud, and especially the real way that wire transfers and check clearing works. Education is the key to fighting these scams, and you can sign our petition asking for the creation of Scam Education and Awareness Programs.

http://www.change.org/petitions/create-scam-education-and-awareness-programs

News from MoneyGram

Here is a press release from MoneyGram


MINNEAPOLIS, Jul 12, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
MoneyGram International (NYSE: MGI), a leading global payment services company, has introduced state-of-the-art technology to better protect its customers and agents from fraud. The enhanced technologies, which layer in protection through identification of suspicious transactions, computer and behavioural authentication and anti-phishing capabilities, are already dramatically reducing third-party consumer fraud at agent locations and online.


"MoneyGram takes fraud very seriously," said Dennis Wildsmith, vice president of transaction services and fraud prevention at MoneyGram. "We have established systems and processes to enhance safe and reliable money transfers, train our agents and employees about fraud, and to educate consumers on ways to safeguard their money. These new technologies are one more step in creating a world-class consumer anti-fraud program."

As part of the new measures to combat fraud, MoneyGram has implemented a solution called Global Compliance that identifies suspicious or high-risk transactions based on established criteria. Global Compliance helped prevent more than 1,000 customers from losing funds to fraud during its first 50 days. In addition, MoneyGram reduced internet purchase fraud by 30 percent during this same period.

The system scans each transaction looking for signs of fraud, and suspicious transactions are put on hold until the company can confirm if a transaction is legitimate or fraudulent. Global Compliance rules were developed specifically by MoneyGram, offering the company the flexibility to modify the rules as needed in order to respond more quickly to new and different kinds of fraud. Today, the tool is monitoring all send transactions from Canada and the United States to anywhere in the world.

"These are some of the multiple steps that will significantly increase our ability to mitigate fraud around the world," said Wildsmith. "We're already seeing positive results. Since its implementation, the system has been effective at stopping thousands of fraudulent transactions in the U.S. alone. Our goal is to have the system integrated with all point-of-sale equipment within two years, giving MoneyGram's global agents the ability to more effectively identify suspicious transactions and better enforce anti-fraud and anti-money laundering processes to protect consumers."

MoneyGram has instituted another step to protect its customers through a process that identifies individual consumers - who have made or attempted to make transactions that are known to be fraudulent - being victimized by scams. MoneyGram's new fraud solutions build on efforts already in place to mitigate fraud at the point of transaction. These include warnings on MoneyGram send forms for the customer to answer before sending money and agents verbally alerting customers when they see possible fraud taking place.

To further protect consumers, the company has also implemented an RSA Fraud Intelligence Solution, an anti-phishing tool that prevents cyber criminals from compromising agent computers and stealing customer information. The solution provides user and computer authentication technologies to prevent fraud from the point of login through completion of the transaction. RSA's technology also conducts behavioural monitoring - flagging transactions for review if a customer suddenly changes his/her pattern in making transfers.

Additionally, MoneyGram, a leading money order provider, has also redesigned its money orders to provide more highly visible safeguards against counterfeiting - the number one type of fraud for this kind of payment. The redesign incorporates visual and physical features that are easy to see on the front of each money order, not easy to replicate and contains an additional call to action for the recipient of a money order to verify its validity.

MoneyGram and Nigeria

On June 8th, 2010 MoneyGram released the following information. Because I feel so strongly about this topic, I would like to share the entire press release with you, along with my personal thoughts on it.

MINNEAPOLIS, Jun 08, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) --MoneyGram International (NYSE:MGI), a leading global money transfer company, announced today that First Bank of Nigeria Plc has selected MoneyGram to provide money transfer services in its more than 500 locations across the nation. First Bank, established in 1894, is Nigeria's oldest bank and one of the largest in terms of network size. First Bank has locations in all key cities including Abuja, Benin, Lagos, Iabdan, Port Harcourt, and Warri as well as a significant presence in rural Nigeria, some operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, making MoneyGram services even more convenient for Nigerians.

Is this really what we need?  for Money Gram services to be even more convenient for Nigerians?  I feel that it is pretty convenient for them just as it is.  Actually it is way TOO convenient for them to pick up money that people receive from counterfeit cashier's checks, or for fake Secret Shopper jobs or that people believe that they are sending to someone within the United States.

"MoneyGram, which has operated in Nigeria since 1998, saw significant growth between 2006 and 2008 when it tripled its network in the country," said Vicky Johnston, MoneyGram's senior regional director for Anglo Africa and Middle East. "We are excited about partnering with First Bank as it is MoneyGram's most recent and significant expansion which will allow us to provide a service to so many more people through the bank's large number of branches."

Ironically, during the same time period that MoneyGram increased it's network in the country, the number of money lost to scams and fraud also increased.  You can see the increase on the chart below which is from the Annual Report put out by the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3.gov)

To commemorate the agreement with First Bank Plc, MoneyGram's Chairman and CEO, Pamela H. Patsley is in Nigeria and will attend the official launch event scheduled for today. During her visit, Patsley will address the media as well as CEOs of MoneyGram's agent banks in Nigeria, discussing the common goal of bringing needed financial services to the people of Nigeria and the growth opportunities there.

I have a better idea . . . what about discussing the common goal of fighting all of the scams and fraud that pass through MoneyGram every day, and how they can do more to save those customers from becoming victims.  Before we start looking at the financial needs of the people of Nigeria, I think we need to protect the financial needs of the people right here in the United States. 

"MoneyGram is pleased to partner with First Bank," said Patsley. "Our partnership will help to ensure that our services are accessible and convenient for the people of Nigeria and that we can continue to meet the growing demand of consumers in this important remittance market."

And why are their demands growing?  Because there are more and more scams going undetected or people just turning a blind eye to them. 

Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, is ranked in the top 10 receive countries for money transfers. The World Bank estimates that $10 billion USD in remittances was sent to Nigeria in 2009 - with the United States being the primary send country. Other top send countries include Canada, Germany, Israel, Italy, Liberia, Libya, Malaysia, Spain, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

That is because Nigeria is also ranked in the top 3 countries for money wire transfer scams.  The other countries would be Canada and the United Kingdom, who are also ironically on the list above.  I wonder hom much of the $559.7 million dollars from the chart above that went out of this country in scams is directly a part of the $10 billion reported to be going into Nigeria in 2009? 

With the First Bank agreement, MoneyGram now has a total of eight bank relationships, thus further proving that MoneyGram is dedicated to providing reliable and safe money transfer services to Nigerians - wherever they may reside. Furthermore, agent banks in Nigeria have brought a positive experience to the remittance business with their individual pedigree in banking, service quality delivery and branch network, which provides a sense of ease for those receiving funds from family members working in other countries.

So we are going over and above to make sure that Nigerians have a reliable and safe money transfer service, but we are doing very little to offer that same kind of safety to the MoneyGram customers in the United States.  The last sentence in the above paragraph really gets me . . . . which provides a sense of ease for those receiving funds.  Why is it that we seem to care more about the people in another country, who are one of the main sources of these scams, than the people here in the United States that they are scamming? 


Shawn Mosch
Co-Founder of ScamVictimsUnited.com
 
Find us on Twitter, Facebook and more through
http://www.retaggr.com/page/ShawnMosch

Sign our petition for Scam Education and Awareness Programs at
http://www.change.org/petitions/view/create_scam_education_and_awareness_programs

Counterfeit checks and MoneyGram

I am currently working with a lawyer who is interested in speaking to victims of counterfeit cashier's check scams who wired money using MoneyGram.  Please contact me if you would be willing to speak with this lawyer.  If this turns into a case, it could be a huge break for victims of these scams.

Do not post your contact info here . . . if you do not already have my contact information, you can find me through http://www.retaggr.com/page/ShawnMosch

 

More on MoneyGram

I read a press release stating that MoneyGram is now available in over 6,000 Candada Post Locations.

I sure hope that they do some better training of their staff at these locations, and monitor them more closely than they did their other Canadian locations.  What am I talking about?

The FTC charged that between 2004 and 2008, MoneyGram agents helped fraudulent telemarketers and other con artists who tricked U.S. consumers into wiring more than $84 million within the United States and to Canada – after these consumers were falsely told they had won a lottery, were hired for a secret shopper program, or were guaranteed loans. The $84 million in losses is based on consumer complaints to MoneyGram – actual consumer losses likely are much higher.

The FTC charged that MoneyGram knew that its system was being used to defraud people but did very little about it, and that in some cases its agents in Canada actually participated in these schemes. According to the FTC’s complaint, MoneyGram knew, or avoided knowing, that about 131 of its more than 1,200 agents accounted for more than 95 percent of the fraud complaints it received in 2008 regarding money transfers to Canada; a similarly small number of agents was responsible for more than 96 percent of all fraud complaints to the company in 2006.

You can read the entire press release here.  

Wire Transfers and scams

So many of the online scams involve the scammer sending a counterfeit cashier’s check or money order, asking the victim to wait for it to “clear” and then wire a portion of the money on to someone. The scammers make up all kinds of stories to make the reason for having to wire money to someone else make sense, and of course since the bank has already told you that the check is “clear” you feel like there is nothing to worry about.

Did you know this . . . when you wire money to someone, even if you write on the documentation that the wire transfer is to be picked up in Detroit, Michigan if the scammer has the test/security question and answer along with the wire transfer information then they can pick up the money at any location in the world . . . like Lagos, Nigeria.

These test or security questions are a feature put in place for emergency situations, when the person picking up the money has lost their photo id, which is normally needed to pick up a wire transfer. But if you give the scammer the test/security question information that is how they bypass the need for a picture id when picking up the money. This happens every day on sites like Craigslist. The scammer will pretend to be within the United States so as to not raise any red flags with the potential victim by mentioning that they are really in Nigeria.

With so many scams using wire transfering services like Western Union and MoneyGram we at Scam Victims United would like to see these companies increase their security by making it mandatory that the money must be picked up in the destination zone. If the documentation filled out by the customer says that the money is going to Detroit, Michigan, then the money should not be able to be picked up outside of the state of Michigan, no matter what information the person picking the money up has. This would help to reduce the number of scams going on because the scammers would then have to tell the victims to wire the money to Nigeria for them to be able to pick it up, and with so many people this would be a red flag because of the information about Nigerian scams.

In addition, wire transfering services could have a Fraud Alert posted in their store locations, and when anyone does fill out a wire transfer form and indicates Nigeria as the destination for the money to be picked up they could point out the Fraud Alert or have the customer sign a secondary document saying that they are aware that there are many internet scams coming out of the country of Nigeria which involve receiving a cashier’s check or money order and then wiring money.

I would like to propose laws that would require wire transfer services to implement and follow such security measures.  Since we cannot go to other countries and arrest the people running these scams we must do as much as we can to provide the correct information to the American public to educate them about these scams. This means that everyone must do their part, including the wire transfering services that the scammers use as a part of their business.

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Nigerian National Sentenced to Over Eight Years for Role in Fraudulent Check Scam that Victimized Nearly 500 Individuals

Reposted from http://losangeles.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/la012610a.htm

LOS ANGELES—A Nigerian national who operated a money-transfer business in Chino has been sentenced to 97 months in federal prison for his role in a scheme that bilked hundreds of victims out of more than $1.5 million in a scam that had schemers sending bogus checks to victims and falsely telling them they had won a sweepstakes or another lie to induce them to negotiate the fraudulent checks.

Alvin Chiemezie Asieru, 39, who resided in Chino prior to his arrests last March, was sentenced Monday by United States District Judge John F. Walter, who also ordered Asieru to pay full restitution to his victims.

Asieru pleaded guilty last year to one count of mail fraud, admitting that he participated in an international telemarketing scheme that defrauded almost 500 victims from across the United States. The scheme involving Asieru is a variation of a scam now commonly seen where fraudulent checks are sent to victims with false claims that they had for some reason received a windfall. Asieru’s scheme in particular involved sending bogus checks to victims, telling them that they had won a contest, had been chosen to participate in a promotion, or were being offered employment as “secret shoppers.” The victims were instructed to deposit the checks, wire most of the funds through MoneyGram, and report the MoneyGram transaction number to someone associated with the scheme. Armed with the transaction number, Asieru was able to collect the proceeds of the wire transfer through a MoneyGram terminal at his Chino business, SABIC Group. Asieru then shared the proceeds with co-conspirators in Ontario, Canada. Asieru also transferred over $680,000 of the proceeds to various banks in Nigeria. The victims later learned that the checks they had deposited into their bank accounts were fraudulent and that they were responsible for the money they had now lost.

As part of an investigation into MoneyGram transfers sent from United States consumers to Canada, Canadian authorities determined that the overwhelming majority of wire transactions involving more than $1,000 are the proceeds of fraud involving various scams and Internet purchases. The investigation identified several MoneyGram operators as being involving in a majority of the suspect transactions, including SABIC Group.

A number of Asieru’s victims learned that the MoneyGram transfers had been picked up in Chino, which prompted the Chino Police Department to open an investigation. In several instances involving bogus checks and wire transfers, MoneyGram advised the police that the money was picked up at SABIC Group within 30 minutes of the wire transfer. The Chino Police also learned that MoneyGram received 53 complaints of fraud against SABIC Group in 2008, with losses totaling approximately $103,500.

In sentencing papers, federal prosecutors argued that Asieru not only caused financial losses to his victims, but also caused law-abiding victims to be stigmatized with destroyed credit and what appeared to be criminal conduct. One victim discussed in prosecutors’ sentencing papers was arrested and spent a night in jail for passing the bad check sent as part of Asieru’s scam, an indignity that was noted by Judge Walter during yesterday’s sentencing hearing.

The case against Asieru was investigated by the Chino Police Department, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Money order scams

My good friend, Denise Richardson of Give Me Back My Credit just sent me a link to a story that I think all of you should read.

http://www.mainstreet.com/article/smart-spending/truth-about-money-order-scams

I love that the author starts off by calling this a case of the clueless banks, because this is the way that I have felt for years. When we were hit with our Counterfeit Cashier's Check Scam, which works the same way as the Money Order Scam the author talks about in this story, our bank told us that the cashier's check would be verified as good and clear in 24 hours. When we questioned that answer they assured us that 24 hours was all that it took for it to be "verified".

Back then, I assumed that this meant that someone at the bank actually did something to "verify" that the cashier's check or money order was good. You would think with all of the computer programs out there that they could have a system where you enter the check information and it would tell you if it that check was written on a bad account or if the account had enough funds in it to cover that check . . . and last time I checked, the phone system still worked for the bank to call the issuing bank to "verify" all of this.

So, a week after we deposited the cashier's check that we were sent, we got a call from our bank telling us that it was counterfeit and that we were liable for the entire amount. I asked them how this could be true since they told us that the check was "good", "verified" and that the "funds were available". They informed us that when we signed the check we became liable for the full amount, and that if we wanted to know for sure that it was good we should have called the issuing bank . . . funny . . . that is what I thought THEY were going to do when they said that they were going to "verify" the check!

But it gets better . . . as we were battling the bank and speaking with the Loss Prevention Department my husband asked them "So, how long does it REALLY take for a cashier's check to clear?" After asking her supervisor, the person we were speaking with told us "24 hours", to which we responded, "If that were true, we would not be having this conversation with you right now."

And that is why I agree with the author of this article that the banks are clueless.

Shawn Mosch
Co-Founder of ScamVictimsUnited.com
There is strength in numbers!

Find us on Twitter, Facebook and more through
http://www.retaggr.com/page/ShawnMosch

Support Scam Victims United by shopping at
http://shopittous.blogspot.com/

Money Transfers

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt034.shtm

Money Transfers Can Be Risky Business

You’ve won a prize!
I’m in a foreign country, and I need cash.
We’re temporarily unable to accept credit cards.
Your dream apartment is available immediately at an incredible price!

Scam artists use a number of elaborate schemes to get your money, and many involve money transfers through companies like Western Union and MoneyGram. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, money transfers may be useful when you want to send funds to someone you know and trust — but they’re completely inappropriate when you’re dealing with a stranger.

Why do scammers pressure people to use money transfers? So they can get their hands on the money before their victims realize they’ve been cheated. Typically, there is no way you can reverse the transaction or trace the money. Another reason: When you wire money to another country, the recipient can pick it up at multiple locations, making it nearly impossible to identify them or track them down. In some cases, the receiving agents of the money transfer company might be complicit in the fraud. Money transfers are virtually the same as sending cash — there are no protections for the sender.

Many money transfer scams involve dramatic or convincing stories that play on your optimistic nature, your altruism or your thriftiness. But no matter how you parse it, they always cost you money. Here are some scams involving money transfers that you may recognize:

Counterfeit Check Scams

Someone sends you a check with instructions to deposit it and wire some or all the money back. By law, banks must make the funds from deposited checks available within days, but uncovering a fake check can take weeks. You are responsible for the checks you deposit, so if a check turns out to be fraudulent, you will owe the bank any money you withdrew.

Counterfeit check scams have many variations:

Lotteries and Sweepstakes: You just won a foreign lottery! The letter says so, and a cashier’s check is included. All you have to do is deposit the check and wire money to pay for taxes and fees. Oops: The check is no good. Although it looks like a legitimate cashier’s check, the bank eventually will determine that it is a fake. The lottery angle is a trick to get you to wire money to someone you don’t know. If you deposit the check and wire the money, the check will bounce — and you’ll be responsible for the money you sent.

Overpayment Scams: Someone responds to your posting or ad, and offers to use a cashier’s check, personal check or corporate check to pay for the item you’re selling. At the last minute, the so-called buyer (or the buyer’s “agent”) comes up with a reason to write the check for more than the purchase price, and asks you to wire back the difference. The checks are counterfeit, but very often, good enough to fool bank tellers. Acting in good faith, you deposit the check and wire the funds back to the “buyers.” Oops: the check bounces. You are liable for the amount you wired.

Mystery Shopper Scams: You are hired to be a mystery shopper and asked to evaluate the customer service of a money transfer company. You’re given a check to deposit in your personal bank account. Then, you’re told to withdraw the amount in cash and wire the money using a certain money transfer service. Often, the instructions say to send the transfer to a person in Canada or another foreign country. You’re then asked to evaluate your experience — but no one collects the evaluation. Oops: the check you deposited bounces. You are responsible for the money you withdrew.

Don’t wire money to: a stranger — in this country or anywhere else someone claiming to be a relative in a crisis — and who wants to keep their request for money a secret someone who says a money transfer is the only form of payment that’s acceptable someone who asks you to deposit a check and send some of the money back

Other Money Transfer Scams

Online Purchase Scams: If you are buying something online and the seller insists on a money transfer as the only form of payment, consider it a red flag: ask to use a credit card, an escrow service or another way to pay. No matter what story the seller tells you, insisting on a money transfer is a signal that you won’t get the item — or your money back. Find another seller.

Advance Fee Loans: Ads and websites that guarantee loans or credit cards regardless of your credit history may be tempting. The oops moment is when you apply for the loan or credit card and find out you have to pay a fee in advance. If you have to wire money for the promise of a loan or credit card, it’s likely you’re dealing with a scam artist.

Family Emergency Scams: You get a call out of the blue from someone who claims to be a member of your family and needs cash to get out of a jam — to fix a car, get out of jail or leave a foreign country. He begs you to wire money right away and to keep the request confidential. Check it out with your family. It’s likely they know nothing about it. If you absolutely, positively cannot ignore the request, try to verify the caller’s identity by asking very personal questions a stranger couldn’t possibly answer. And keep trying to reach the family to check out the story.

Apartment Rental Scams: Some scammers hijack bona fide rental or real estate listings by changing the email address or other contact information, and placing the altered ads on other sites. Other rip-off artists make up listings for places that aren’t for rent or don’t exist, and try to pique your interest with the promise of below-market rent. But once they have your attention, a skilled scammer asks you to wire an application fee, a security deposit or the first month’s rent. It’s never a good idea to send money to someone you’ve never met for an apartment you haven’t seen. If you can’t meet in person, see the apartment or sign a lease before you pay, keep looking.

If you’ve wired money to a scam artist, call the money transfer company immediately to report the fraud and file a complaint. You can reach the complaint department of MoneyGram at 1-800-MONEYGRAM (1-800-666-3947) or Western Union at 1-800-448-1492. Ask for the money transfer to be reversed. It’s unlikely to happen, but it’s important to ask. Then, file a complaint with the FTC. Visit ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261.

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit ftc.govor call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters consumer complaints into the Consumer Sentinel Network, a secure online database and investigative tool used by hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

MoneyGram class action

Last week I wrote about MoneyGram and the FTC, and how the FTC has found that MoneyGram knew that it's money transfer system was being used to defraud and scam people out of their money, and did very little about it.

Since then I have been contacted by a consumer rights attorney in California and he would like to bring a claim against MoneyGram to get money back to scammed consumers.

If you know of anyone in California that was scammed by MoneyGram, please have them contact me so that I can get them in touch with this attorney. He is willing to help the victims and work on contingency.

Shawn Mosch
Co-Founder of ScamVictimsUnited.com
There is strength in numbers!

Find us on Twitter, Facebook and more through
http://www.retaggr.com/page/ShawnMosch

Support Scam Victims United by shopping at
http://shopittous.blogspot.com/

Consumer Education

The FTC has a new Consumer Alert, available on its Web site at http://ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt034.shtm, titled “Money Transfers Can Be Risky Business.” It includes useful information on how consumers can avoid telemarketing and money transfer fraud, including the following tips. Don’t wire money to:

· someone you don’t know, in the U.S. or in a foreign country;

· someone claiming to be a relative in the midst of a crisis and who wants to keep the
request for money a secret;

· someone who says a money transfer is the only form of payment that’s acceptable; or

· someone who asks you to deposit a check and send some of the money back.

Consumers interested in the process of redress administration should call 202-326-3755.

The FTC’s case was investigated with the assistance of the Toronto Strategic Partnership, Project Colt, Project Emptor, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Additional assistance was provided by the Durham Regional Police Service, Ontario, Canada, and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Call Centre (PhoneBusters).

The Toronto Strategic Partnership includes the FTC, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Competition Bureau Canada, the Toronto Police Service Fraud Squad – Mass Marketing Section, the Ontario Provincial Police Anti-Rackets Section, the Ontario Ministry of Consumer Services, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the United Kingdom's Office of Fair Trading. Project Colt includes the FTC, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Surete du Quebec, City of Montreal Police Service, Canada Border Services Agency, Competition Bureau Canada, U.S. Homeland Security, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Project Emptor includes the FTC, the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Authority of British Columbia, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Competition Bureau Canada, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

The Commission vote approving the complaint and proposed consent order was 3-0, with Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour recused. The complaint and order were filed on October 19, 2009, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.

NOTE: The Commission authorizes the filing of a complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has or is being violated, and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. A complaint is not a finding or ruling that the defendants have actually violated the law. A stipulated court order is for settlement purposes only and does not necessarily constitute an admission by the defendants of a law violation. Stipulated orders have the force of law when signed by the judge.

Copies of the complaint and stipulated order are available from the FTC’s Web site at http://www.ftc.gov and from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC’s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 1,700 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC’s Web site provides free information on a variety of consumer topics.

MoneyGram and FTC

This information can be found at

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/moneygram.shtm

MoneyGram International, Inc., the second-largest money transfer service in the United States, will pay $18 million in consumer redress to settle FTC charges that the company allowed its money transfer system to be used by fraudulent telemarketers to bilk U.S. consumers out of tens of millions of dollars. MoneyGram also will be required to implement a comprehensive anti-fraud and agent-monitoring program.

The FTC charged that between 2004 and 2008, MoneyGram agents helped fraudulent telemarketers and other con artists who tricked U.S. consumers into wiring more than $84 million within the United States and to Canada – after these consumers were falsely told they had won a lottery, were hired for a secret shopper program, or were guaranteed loans. The $84 million in losses is based on consumer complaints to MoneyGram – actual consumer losses likely are much higher.

The FTC charged that MoneyGram knew that its system was being used to defraud people but did very little about it, and that in some cases its agents in Canada actually participated in these schemes. According to the FTC’s complaint, MoneyGram knew, or avoided knowing, that about 131 of its more than 1,200 agents accounted for more than 95 percent of the fraud complaints it received in 2008 regarding money transfers to Canada; a similarly small number of agents was responsible for more than 96 percent of all fraud complaints to the company in 2006.

“Money transfer services have a responsibility to make sure their systems don’t become conduits to rip people off,” said David C. Vladeck, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “In this case, MoneyGram not only ducked this responsibility, but also looked the other way while its agents took part in the scams.”

Minneapolis, Minnesota-based MoneyGram operates through a worldwide network of approximately 180,000 agent locations in 190 countries and territories. In its complaint, the FTC charged that in recent years this network has increasingly been used by telemarketing scammers to prey on U.S. consumers. Con artists prefer to use money transfer services because they can pick up transferred money immediately, the payments are often untraceable, and victimized consumers have no chargeback rights or other recourse.

In 2007, 72 percent of all complaints received by the FTC involving Canadian-based fraud reported using money transfer services to make payments. According to a recent FTC survey cited in the complaint, at least 79 percent of all MoneyGram transfers of $1,000 or more from the United States to Canada over a four-month period in 2007 were fraud-induced. The Commission’s complaint further stated that based on the more than 20,600 fraud complaints MoneyGram itself received, U.S. consumers lost more than $44 million to cross-border money-transfer frauds between 2004 and 2008 alone. When combined with losses reported by U.S. consumers on money transfers within the United States, that number grows to $84 million.

In many of the scams that used MoneyGram’s money transfer system, the con artists used counterfeit checks to induce consumers to send money back by wire transfer. The most prevalent of these scams were lottery or prize schemes in which consumers were told they had won thousands of dollars and just had to pay a fee for “taxes,” “customs,” or “insurance” to a third-party to collect their winnings. Consumers paid the fee using MoneyGram, but received nothing. In another scheme, telemarketers told consumers they were guaranteed loans, regardless of their credit score. All they had to do was pay “insurance,” “paperwork,” or “processing” fees to complete the transaction. Consumers who sent funds using a money transfer service got nothing in return.

In mystery shopping scams, the con artists called U.S. consumers or sent them a piece of direct mail in which they claimed to be hiring consumers to visit stores such as Wal-Mart to evaluate MoneyGram money transfer operations. The con artists sent consumers a cashier’s check, telling them to deposit it in their checking account and then send most of the money back using a money transfer at Wal-Mart. When the counterfeit checks bounced, consumers realized they had lost the money they transferred. By this time, however, the money transfer agents had already received and paid out the money, often either without checking IDs or by using fake drivers license information.

The FTC’s complaint alleges that MoneyGram ignored warnings from law enforcement officials and even its own employees that widespread fraud was being conducted over its network, claiming that proposals to deal with the problem were too costly and were not the company’s responsibility. The company even discouraged its employees from enforcing its own fraud prevention policies or taking action against suspicious or corrupt agents. Some employees who raised concerns were disciplined or fired, the FTC charged.

In addition, at least 65 of MoneyGram’s Canadian agents have been charged by Canadian or U.S. law enforcers with, or are currently being investigated for, colluding in fraud schemes that used the MoneyGram system.

The complaint charges MoneyGram with violating both the FTC Act and the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule by helping sellers or telemarketers who it knew – or consciously avoided knowing – were violating federal law, and for not taking adequate steps to prevent fraud.

The agreed-upon court order settling the FTC’s charges bars MoneyGram from knowingly providing substantial help or support to any sellers or telemarketers that are violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule and requires it to implement a comprehensive anti-fraud program. Under the anti-fraud program, MoneyGram must conduct background checks on prospective agents; educate and train its employees about consumer fraud; institute agent monitoring; and discipline agents who don’t comply with the rules. The order also requires MoneyGram to provide a clear and conspicuous fraud warning on the front of all its money transfer forms. The order’s conduct provisions apply to all MoneyGram money transfers sent worldwide from either the United States or Canada.

The order contains monitoring and discipline provisions that will ensure MoneyGram is properly training, monitoring, and taking actions to address problems related to its agents. To do this, the order requires MoneyGram to develop and maintain a system for receiving consumer complaints and data, and to provide that information to the FTC upon request. MoneyGram also must take all reasonable steps to identify agents that are involved in fraud. It must review its transaction data to identify any unusual or suspicious activity by its agents and fire any agent who it believes may be participating in fraudulent activities. It also must fire or suspend any agent who has not taken appropriate steps to stop fraudulent money transfers.

Finally, MoneyGram will pay the Commission $18 million, which will be used to provide redress to consumers.

Scams and the Holidays

Thanksgiving is just over a week away, and it is time to start thinking about the Holiday Season. We at Scam Victims United usually see an increase in the number of scam victims during this time of year. Many people are looking for a way to make some extra money to pay for the gifts that they want to give to family and friends, so they may sell something they own at an online classified ad site, like Craigslist, or they may look for an extra part-time job. It is because of this need for the extra money to get through the Holidays that some people may let their guard down and become more vulnerable to online scams.

Common online scams include the overpayment scams, in the form of counterfeit cashier's checks and money orders, or work at home job offers such as the Secret Shopper Scam. Let's review the signs of both.

Counterfeit Cashier's check or Money Order Scam
You are selling an item over the Internet - it could be a used car or motorcycle, jewelry or even bred animals. You receive an email offer to purchase your item and the buyer says he'll send a bank cashier's check. The buyer is from Nigeria or "West Africa", but has a business associate in the United States who will send you the cashier's check. Then you are told that for some reason the check was already made out to you for an amount larger than your asking price. The buyer asks you to please deposit the check, wait for it to clear, and then send him the difference -- "but only after the cashier's check clears, of course."

You are skeptical - but, sure enough, the bank cashier's check arrives by Fed Ex, it looks real, your bank accepts the check, and the bank assures you the funds are in fact available. So you wait the time the bank recommends to verify that the check is clear and then you wire the difference to your buyer in Nigeria and prepare to ship your item.

A week later your bank calls: "We're very sorry, but the cashier's check was counterfeit" -- a superb copy, but worthless. Your account is frozen. You must pay the bank back the entire amount of the cashier's check. You may even be considered a fraud suspect yourself.

Secret Shopper Scam
The scammer will either place an ad in a legitimate classified listing, online or in print, or they will collect their victim’s names and email addresses off of resumes posted online. Some of them are even making “copy cat” websites of legitimate Secret Shopper companies to use in their scam to help convince the victim that this is all legitimate. For a listing of legitimate Secret Shopper companies, go to http://www.mysteryshop.org/

The victim will be told that they have been hired as a Secret Shopper and will be sent a cashier’s check or money order to cash and use on their assignments. One of the assignments is to review the service at a Western Union or Money Gram location. They are given a name and address to wire money to, from the check that was sent to them, and told to fill out an evaluation form on the service received and email or fax that back to the company they are working for.

Everything seems fine, and some victims may even complete a few “assignments” before the check is discovered to be counterfeit. On average, it takes about 10 business days for the bank to realize that the check is counterfeit, but we have seen some cases where it has taken over 6 months. Once the bank dose find that the check is counterfeit, they will contact you demanding the return of the money and deduct the full amount of the check from your bank account. This sometimes leaves the victims with negative bank accounts.

For more information on the check clearing process and the banking terms, please read
http://scamvictimsunited.blogspot.com/2009/08/banking-terms-not-as-clear-as-they.html


Shawn Mosch
Co-Founder of ScamVictimsUnited.com
There is strength in numbers!

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Another story of a scam victim arrested

A while back I told you about a scam victim who was arrested. Stories like these always frustrate me because as a former scam victim I know the hurt and pain that you go through when you find out that you have been scammed, but these victims have that feeling plus more because they now have been arrested. They do not just face the financial recovery process that people like myself went through, but they also have to hire a lawyer to prove that they are the victim in the case and not the criminal. What happened to innocent until proven guilty?

This victim was also responding to a Secret Shopper ad.

Here is the story of this latest scam victim in her own words . . .

I responded with all the requested information the next day. Shortly after I responded to this email I was asked by a local company to come into their office for an interview. I did and became very hopeful that I would get the job. I totally forgot about even responding to the Mystery Shopper email and wasn't really expecting to hear anything from them. I few days later I received 2 Money Gram money orders @ $998.00 each sent to me via Fed Ex overnight mail. No other documents were inside. I couldn't figure out where these came from and was not even thinking about that one email response I sent for the Mystery Shopper position. I had read an email in my AOL inbox a week or two before that I was a part of a class action lawsuit against AOL for some "footer" issue. I assumed these checks may have been a result of the class action suit since I had 2 screen names with AOL. I attempted to call Money Gram and went online and could not get any information regarding the tracking numbers on them. NO ONE EVER EVEN MENTIONED POSSIBLE FRAUD. When I went to the Money Gram station at the local Lucky store (in the town I have lived for 34 years and am now raising my 13 year old son) to cash these money orders I was arrested immediately. I was frisked, my car searched my purse emptied all in front of the Lucky store here in the quaint little community where most people know everyone. The 3 responding officers were absolutely sure that I was some check fraud "ring leader!" They would ask me where the money orders came from, I would answer telling them that they were sent via UPS next day air but I was unsure by who. Then I was told to shut up and stop lying. One officer told me "you and I both know no one sent these to you. You made these yourself" I was then "escorted" to Alameda County Jail where I remained for the next 10 hours until my $10,000.00 bail bond (for check fraud) was processed.

Once released from jail I made it my mission to catch this dirty rotten scum bag who was responsible for what I had been through. So.....I responded to an email that he had sent to me (which I didn't even open until about 2 days after I was released from jail) indicating that he sent the package and instructions and he needs me to follow through with this task immediately (of sending his payment via Western Union) I played along with this guy to try to obtain as much information as I could. I advised him that the money orders were cashed and to please call me as I was a bit confused about something regarding his instructions. He called, about every other minute from that moment through the next 4 days. Once even forgetting to *67 therefore I was able to obtain his NIGERIAN telephone number. He even went so far as to send me text messages!!! He thought I had his money and he wanted it. I recorded our phone conversation on my MAC I MOVIE. I tracked down the gentleman whose email address they had hacked and were using to send the initial correspondence. He lived in S. Africa and was the administrator of a fishing forum. I explained to him my situation and advised him to contact the FBI before they contacted him as I had already given them his email information on my FBI report of this incident. He was grateful that I had taken so much of my time to track him down and explain this situation to him so that he could cancel his email address they were using before they had sent any further damaging money orders out to innocent people. I thought that since the local police didn't really care about catching these losers that I would!!

I have since retained a very good lawyer. We have met with the DA who still is unsure whether he plans to file charges against me or not. I appeared in court last week and at that time there were no charges filed yet BUT THE CASE WAS NOT DROPPED EITHER!!! I go back to court November 5th.

Ever since this happened I cannot STOP talking about it. It helps for me to get past the anger. Initially, I was consumed by researching scammers, trying to catch this guy and others like him. Then I realized that law enforcement officials are inexperienced and unequipped to handle situations like mine. They are not interested in catching the people responsible and therefore I needed to direct my ager somewhere else and for that reason, I would love to tell my story in hopes to make people aware of these scammers.

MoneyGram International Reaches Agreement with FTC

This press release can be found at http://www.moneygram.com/MGICorp/InvestorRelations/News/index.htm

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 20, 2009-- MoneyGram International (NYSE:MGI), a global leader in the payment services industry, today entered into an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to make certain enhancements to its consumer anti-fraud program to further combat consumer fraud perpetrated by criminals who use MoneyGram’s services illegally.

“At MoneyGram, we take the issue of consumer fraud very seriously. Our ability to provide safe and reliable money transfer services for our consumers is critically important,” said Pamela H. Patsley, MoneyGram chairman and CEO. “MoneyGram has committed extraordinary resources to building a state-of-the-art consumer anti-fraud program.”

The company has begun implementing new systems and processes to further bolster consumer protection, which have been effective at stopping millions of dollars in fraudulent transactions every year.

“While we don’t agree with the FTC’s allegations regarding our fraud prevention in the past, we can agree on fraud prevention today and in the future,” said Patsley. “We don’t want our customers being victimized by third-party fraud. What we are announcing today with the FTC is our commitment to enhance our already comprehensive efforts to combat fraud and ensure our customers can continue to rely on MoneyGram for safe, reliable money transfer services.”

MoneyGram provides consumer warnings about the latest scams on its website and money transfer send-forms, and through its 24-hour customer service center. The company also works closely with local, state, federal and international law enforcement to combat this global criminal activity.

“We are committed to be vigilant in our efforts in protecting our customers from fraudulent activity,” said Patsley. “Ensuring safe and reliable money transfers for our customers all over the world is at the forefront of all we do.”

As part of its agreement with the FTC, the company has also agreed to pay $18 million into an FTC-administered fund to refund consumers who have been victimized through third-party fraud.

There is also an article about this topic at
http://www.examiner.com/x-1893-News-You-Can-Use-Examiner~y2009m10d20-A-medium-for-fraud-MoneyGram-to-pay-millions

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