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Western Union

June 11, 2011 04:32AM
So I got one of these Western Union jobs to do...all I have to do is send 2025.00 from the 2500.00 check they sent me and the balance of mine is the fee for the job! LUCKY ME!

Now of COURSE I know this is the ultimate scam and would never do such a thing but I did play along for the guy to send me the check, have the envelope of where it came from and now know what bank they are going to play. But....do I bring it to the police? They are operating under "Tricom Global Research" - my google fu went into overdrive on them. I wonder if I should just pitch it and say forget it but I've seen too many court shows that people fall for this crap. A scheduler told me it is ultimately the FBI who should get it. Has anyone ever turned over this garbage to the police or FBI?
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June 11, 2011 06:06AM
Good grief, why would you even want to play with that kind of company?
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June 11, 2011 07:44AM
Because of the small amount of the scam the local police and the FBI will tell you that there is nothing to be done. I did the same as you and got no help from the authorities. This is why it is so wide spread.
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June 11, 2011 12:10PM
Perhaps contact the newspaper... a story on how the police aren't interested would be good.

What I don't understand is how Western Union can't tell who gets the money in the end. It should be really simple, right? When they show up to collect the money, the location should call the police ... why don't they do that?
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June 11, 2011 12:41PM
Athena - I've always wondered that myself. And the return address on the express mail envelope - isn't that mail fraud?

I played along to try to "get the goods" on them (I think I'm watching way too many Law and Order: SVU repeats). :-)
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June 11, 2011 03:29PM
Take it to your local police, and report it to the post office, it is mail fraud.

Live consciously....
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June 11, 2011 04:14PM
I have posted seveal blogs and on various forums. You need to 1). Report it to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) www.ftc.gov. Keep the money order and the envelope it came in sealed in a zip lock bag and file it until you are asked to forward it. Yes, they can lift fingerprints off the MO and envelope.
The more that is reported the more likely something will be done. Several arrests have already been made but this scam is like the plague!
Reporting it to the police is useless.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/12/2011 03:41PM by dcrector.
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June 24, 2011 06:05PM
They are now also using MONEYGRAM for their scams. They send you MONEYGRAM checks and expect you to send it back via WESTERN UNION. Same story keep the rest. I got 2 checks from them both was using MONEYGRAM checks. I keep the check did not do anything with them i still have them. origin was some place in Alaska and the return was to be NYC. They use FEDEX to send out the checks. LOL i am not stupid to do what they wanted. lately i emailed for the same scam but when i placed the the happening here in the board guess what they cancelled and did not contact again. I belive they also have access to this discusion boards.
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June 25, 2011 02:37AM
I am sure there are many poor fools who fall for these scams.
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June 25, 2011 01:17PM
Yes, but I wouldn't really call them fools. Many people have vaguely heard of "mystery shopping" and recognize it as real, but are unfamiliar with how it works. I have an intelligent friend who received a check in the mail, and if she hadn't known a little about shopping through me, she might well have made the deposit. She thought it was probably a scam, but still wasn't sure, and called me to check.

These are difficult times, and it's easy to take advantage of desperate people. When I read about people who have fallen for this, often people with a need for additional income, it breaks my heart. And, it makes my stomach churn. Just disgusting.
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July 24, 2011 05:01AM
Don't fall for the scam! I did when I was a bit younger and more naive, and actually thought I had a good job doing the bookkeeping for a person who would pay me via Western Union - boy was I wrong! I showed up at a check cashing place, gave them the money orders sent to me, then damn near went to jail for it! If I had not printed and carried the emails with me, I would have... Instead local law enforcement confiscated them and took it from there. Not sure what came about of it, but now I am getting emails from Tricom Global Research requesting a survey done on Western Unions - not falling for this one - Beware, they have a new scam and there are innocent people as the targets... Where should I report this - anyone know?
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July 25, 2011 12:29PM
Most definately a scam. I received one of those after applying for a home job. And they wanted me to do the same thing and once i looked further into it, OH YEA SCAM BIG Time
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