Anyone who has read our press releases knows just about every one of them tells consumers to never wire money for any type of purchase.  If you run into problems, there is almost no way to get your money back which is why scam artists choose it as the method of choice for duping people.  Well the FTC yesterday sent a message to these money wiring companies by reaching a settlement with MoneyGram International Inc. on charges the company knew its system was being used to defraud consumers, but did little or nothing about it.  The bill for the settlement runs to the tune of $18 million and MoneyGram will now have to implement anti-fraud and agent monitoring programs to attempt to fix the problem.

Just to throw a few numbers out, the FTC says it has received over 20,600 fraud complaints about MoneyGram from 2004 to 2008 which cost consumers more than $44 million just in cross-border transfers between the U.S. and Canada.  The good news for consumers, besides the FTC stepping in to try and alleviate wire fraud, is that the $18 million settlement fee will be used to redress those who were scammed.  If you are one of the unfortunate people who were taken by a MoneyGram utilized scam, you can call the FTC to inquire about getting into the redress process at 202-326-3755.

http://ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/moneygram.shtm