Western Union is a money-transferring service. Back in pre-computer days, it was almost the only private game in town for sending telegraphs and wiring money (government postal services aside). It didn’t hurt to have major free publicity from a hit pop song back in the 60’s, either. But Western Union’s failure to shore up certain business practices have made them the darling of scammers and the damned of the scammed.

In this age of email and PayPal, Western Union has kept its profits up by raising its profile in computer-illiterate countries, as well as continuing to facilitate con artists world-wide. It’s not that Western Union is at all willingly complicit in illegal activities - other than failing to improve security measures for its more hapless users. They address the issue right on their home page.

Western Union warns: “Did someone you don’t know personally ask you to send money? Don’t do it!” A link takes you to a much more detailed warning, which reads as follows:

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.

Because we care about consumers, 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 us at 1-800-448-1492.

The crux of the problem is that Western Union puts all the risk on its users. No escrow, no purchase protection plan, no insurance. They take no responsibility, and they take no proactive measures to protect you. And why should they? It’s just like that ridiculous warning on a pack of cigarettes. “Smoking will kill you, light up!” It’s your own stupid fault.

This is how a con works: Through many different means, confidence tricksters get their victims to send money to them via Western Union. This is quite easy for victims to do, as there are more than 375,000 locations throughout the world. The victim pays the amount to Western Union, plus a service fee (which I’ve always found exorbitant, personally). The money is wired to the receiving Western Union city and retrieved by the person named as the recipient - sometimes just minutes later.

Since the precise Western Union receiving location is NOT fixed, a con man can avoid being observed by picking up the money at a random location in a larger area. Furthermore, the con man can use a false name and false identification, as long as the name matches the recipient’s name and they have the proper money transfer number. Of course they do, because you gave it to them. Now the con man has your money. Western Union worked as advertised and has earned its fee. You’re the big fat stupid loser.

And why? Because you didn’t follow Western Union’s own warning: Never send money to a stranger.

And don’t smoke!

Scrud Kelley

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