The Federal Trade Commission is now holding Western Union accountable saying the company hasn't done enough to prevent rampant fraud through its services. Many scams rely on wire transfers to take money from victims.
Western Union has agreed to forfeit $586 million in a settlement.
Since 2004, the company has received more than 260,000 fraud complaints. Those people claimed to lose $350 million due to these repeat scammers.
Now Western Union says it worked with the FTC to come to this agreement, and says:
"[We have] increased overall compliance funding by more than 200 percent, and now spend approximately $200 million per year on compliance."
Here's the good news: that $586 million in settlement money goes to the victims.
If you believe you were a victim, you can call the U.S. Justice Department at 202-514-1263 to report your claim.
