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Western Union Is A Scammers Best Friend
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Back in college I bought a bunch of DVDs from a reputable eBay seller located in Canada for what I thought was a great price. We’re talking Wal-Mart type prices for new releases and it was from a seller that had positive feedback in the high hundreds, what I would consider a relatively reputable seller. So, I win three auctions or so for about $200 or so, quite a sum for someone in college; and I foolishly sent a practically untrackable Western Union money order to a guy in Canada. So, after I discovered this guy was basically scamming me, I tried to get some recourse. Well, Western Union told me that the money order is gone when cashed and the guy had already cashed it, I was crap out of luck with Western Union. I tried to appeal to my credit card company but they said that my charge with them was for a money order, which I received; unfortunately they couldn’t help me. I eventually was told that I had to contact Canadian officials for mail or wire fraud if I wanted resolution, yeah good luck with that.
Basically, a Western Union money order is no different than any other money order, there is basically absolutely no reason why you would buy a money order from Western Union in the first place! In fact, the use of Western Union as a means of ripping people off, through no fault of Western Union themselves, has gotten so widespread that it’s practically a flashing red light that a scam is going on. In fact, here’s a page from a site that collects readers stories about being ripped off via a Western Union money order. In those situations, those were people desperate for a loan who paid a fee in advance (bad idea) and were ripped off.
Don’t ever send a money order (Western Union or otherwise) to anyone you don’t know… you’re begging to get burned.
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What are you talking about? I used WU to MO $50k to a guy in Nigeria who needs it to pay the export fee on an exiled prince’s estate. The guy detailed it all in his email (which he was kind enough to send me unsolicited!).
So this goes for USPS money orders, too? And personal checks?
Since you’re talking about an eBay transaction, it seems this has more to do with trusting the seller.
I don’t understand what you mean by untrackable. Untrackable by whom? eBay? the buyer? It seems that the only “trackable” payment then is PayPal. How should you pay if the seller does not accept PayPal?
Western Union is “trackable”, but not for the situation you’re talking about. Besides, what exactly would Western Union do? Pay you back? The money is already in the thief’s hands. You want them to play police and track the guy down and ask for the money back? It don’t work that way.
The same thing would have happened if you sent cash. Even a check, once it’s cashed and cleared, cannot be retrieved by your bank.
Chalk it up to a life’s lesson – if it’s too good to be true, read the fine print and pay with a credit card.
The only purpose of money orders and other money wiring arrangements is to allow money to move from Point A to Point B without getting lost on the way. It is not to encumber the money with any contractual obligations beyond those that the parties have agreed to before sending the money.
To expect Western Union to help out with a bad deal is like expecting your cellphone provider to patch up your relationship with your girlfriend because you had a fight over the phone.
A simple rule to follow is never send money to someoneyou don’t
know; if it’s not a personal friend, family member or a trusted business
associate or service provider don’t do it.
NEVER SENT MONEY TO A STRANGER!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why does Western Union allow scammers to receive money without proper Identification. I emailed Western Union and asked why…I never got a reply.