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PARKERSBURG -- The Attorney General in West Virginia Monday issued a notice of a claims deadline for consumers in a settlement with Western Union.
The Western $586 million forfeiture was part of a settlement announced in January 2017 from a multistate investigation of the wire transfer service to send money in a variety of third-party scams, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said.
Completed claims forms must be returned to the settlement administrator by Thursday, he said.
"It is crucial for impacted West Virginians to take action now in order to recoup their losses in this deceitful scam process," Morrisey said. "Our office will continue to hold those who deceive consumers for financial gain accountable for their actions."
About 2,300 residents in West Virginia are eligible for refunds totaling $2.9 million. Any victim of a fraud-induced transfer using Western Union between Jan. 1, 2004, and Jan. 19, 2017, may be eligible to receive compensation.
Many of those consumers received claim forms in the mail, but anyone who did not and believes they may have an eligible claim can go to https://www.FTC.gov/WU or http://www.westernunionremission.com or call in 844 319-2124 for more information on filing a claim, Morrisey said.
Western Union reached the settlement with all states and the District of Columbia, requiring the company to implement an anti-fraud program designed to detect and prevent incidents where consumers, who have been the victims of fraud, use Western Union to wire money to scam artists.
Such schemes involve lottery and contest scams, grandparent scams and tax scams, all of which have been the subject of alerts issued by the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division.
The anti-fraud program, which Western Union agreed to evaluate and update as warranted, includes placing anti-fraud warnings on forms consumers use to wire money, training and educating Western Union's agents about fraud-induced wire transfers and performing due diligence checks on Western Union agents who process money transfers among other elements.
Consumers who believe they may be affected by the Western Union settlement may also contact the West Virginia Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division at 1-800-368-8808, the Eastern Panhandle Consumer Protection Office in Martinsburg at 304-267-0239 or visit the office online at www.wvago.gov.
Morrisey also issued an alert of a telephone Medicare scam where scammers posing as a Medicare representative or an affiliate ask for bank account, credit card, Medicare or Social Security information and in some instances sought payment for the newly issued Medicare card.
More than a dozen West Virginia consumers report having received such calls in recent weeks.
Scam activity may be encouraged by the recent distribution of new Medicare cards. The new cards contain a new beneficiary number, instead of the recipient's Social Security number, to limit fraud.
Medicare representatives will not call someone uninvited to threaten the cancellation of benefits, request money or ask for personal information, such as his or her new Medicare beneficiary number.
Consumers should always remember to verify the authenticity of the recipient before handing over personal information. They also must recognize any bullying or intimidation tactics as an immediate red flag.
The Attorney General's elder abuse litigation and prevention unit encourages anyone with questions or concerns to contact the unit's senior services and elder abuse hotline at 304-558-1155 or HelpForSeniors@wvago.gov.
Senior citizens and their loved ones also can subscribe to the email scam alerts at http://bit.ly/SeniorScamAlert.