MoneyGram Refunding $115 Million In Scam Funds Crackdown

MoneyGram is paying the price for failing to stop scammers from exploiting its system. It is sending more than $115 million in refunds to consumers nationwide.

The refunds are a result of a 2018 action the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice brought against MoneyGram, charging that it had violated an FTC settlement from 2009, along with a 2012 DOJ agreement in which the company agreed to take proactive steps to reduce scammers’ ability to use their payment system to receive money from consumers.

“MoneyGram violated an FTC order by continuing to let scammers rip off its customers,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Other firms that facilitate fraud and ignore FTC orders should expect to face similar consequences.”

What to do

Consumers receiving refunds in this distribution are those who submitted claims during the open claims process in 2021. More information about the MoneyGram refund program and its compensation to consumers who were harmed is available on DOJ’s MoneyGram remission website https://moneygramremission.com.

Further questions may be directed to DOJ’s MoneyGram Remission Administrator by phone at 844-269-2630 or by email at info@moneygramremission.com.

In the 2009 settlement with the FTC, MoneyGram agreed to put in place a fraud prevention program which required the company to promptly investigate, restrict, suspend, and terminate high-fraud agents. The FTC charged that MoneyGram was aware of continued fraud on their payment network after the settlement, turning a blind eye for years to numerous instances of suspicious payment activity by the company’s agents.

More MoneyGram troubles

MoneyGram also faces a lawsuit filed in 2022 by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and New York Attorney General Letitia James alleges that the company stranded customers waiting for their money when it failed to deliver funds promptly to recipients abroad.

“MoneyGram spent years failing its customers and failing to follow the law, ignoring customer complaints and government warnings in the process,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra in a news release. “MoneyGram’s long pattern of misconduct must be halted.”