Why are so many scams done through Western Union?

Question

And what has Western Union done to protect their customers?

Answer 1

Because Western Union is an international money transfer company and is probably the most well recognized world wide. And, anytime you are dealing with money, there are going to be less than honest people who will try to manipulate things (scam) to generate income for themselves.
Western Union tries to make people aware of most scams, and tries to prevent them when ever they are aware of particular scams going on in the world. They do try to educate the public about scams in an effort to help people from being scammed. Best rule of thumb: If it sounds too good to be true...it definitely is a scam!!!

Answer 2

If you are a scammer, Western Union is the way to go, because you can go to any WU agent and collect the money without proving who you are, or providing a good address.

Western Union has done nothing to protect the people who send money because they make too much money protecting scammers.

The people who are scammed are generally poor, and unable to pursue a RICO indictment against Western Union, but one of these days, we'll probably see a state attorney general filing RICO charges against Western Union.

And that noise you hear will be cheering, including mine.

Answer 3

Western Union can't really do much about it - it's the nature of their business that lets people run scams using them. Money can be transferred from one person to another without the recipient showing any proof of who they are. The service is intended as a way to send money to someone who doesn't have the kind of ID that a bank or other financial institution would require, and that is for some people a very needed service - but it's also tailor-made for someone trying to run a scam. It's the responsibility of the sender to know who they are sending money to, and why.

Answer 4

cause scammers want fast cash and wire transfer services are not trackable...

Western Union doesn't do a good job @ protecting consumers.. They need to start asking sending the reason why they sending $$ etc...

To Avoid scams here is what i tell people...
All spam emails/unsolicited phone calls/letters and faxes are scams.
As a general rule - ANYTHING involving Western Union/money gram = Scam.
my Advice: Don't deal with anyone from a foreign country or Accept checks from strangers and never use wire/bank transfer services.. you risk losing your $$ and your mind.
Remember, if it sounds too good
to be true, it probably is! NEVER(ever) give out your personal information to strangers online or offline! Always be on guard.

S-CHEMING
C-RAFTY
A-GGRESSIVE
M-ALICIOUS