COMPANY PAID SCAMMERS HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS
According to a press release issued by the Federal Trade Commission at the end of June, Walmart is alleged to have allowed its money transfer services to be abused by scammers, subjecting its customers to losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
In an amended complaint, the FTC alleged that Walmart “turned a blind eye while scammers took advantage of its failure to properly secure the money transfer services offered at Walmart stores.” Employees were not properly trained, failed to warn customers, and facilitated payments to the scammers who were utilizing “sweepstakes scams, advance-fee loan scams, IRS impersonation schemes, relative-in-need ‘grandparent’ scams,'" along with many others deceptions.
According to the agency’s press release, consumers were harmed because Walmart:
- allowed the payout of these fraudulent transfers;
- had no anti-fraud policy, or had an “ineffective, poorly enforced policy;”
- permitted cash pickups of large payments;
- failed to provide warnings to consumers who were sending out scam-related payments;
- failed to effectively train or retrain staff; and
- allowed money transfers violative of the federal “Telemarketing Sales Rule.”
Was Walmart a partner in crime here?
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