Last year Halton Borough Council’s Trading Standards discovered that there was a pot of money in the USA available to people who had been scammed and who had paid the scammer using Western Union.
Halton was featured in national publicity for spearheading this, including The One Show.
The deadline for applying for a refund was the Monday 12 February 2018 but eagle-eyed officers have now discovered that the deadline has been extended to Thursday 31 May.
Did you lose money to a scammer and pay using Western Union between January 1, 2004 and January 19, 2017? If so, you can now still ask for your money back.
The Federal Trade Commission in the USA reached a settlement with Western Union to return $586 million to its customers who lost money to scammers.
Western Union received 550,000 complaints about money transfers made for scam lotteries and prize draws, advance fee loans and online dating.
Halton Trading Standards contacted the Federal Trade Commission which confirmed that UK residents are entitled to file a claim.
If you sent money to a scammer using Western Union then you could get a refund or partial refund (the $586 million will be shared amongst all claimants) by completing the online claim form at this address www.westernunionremission.com
You do not have to pay anything to get your money back and it’s free to file a claim.
You will need to apply be completing a Remission Form along and providing any documents you have relating to the money transfer and the scam or fraud.
Don’t worry if you don’t have any paperwork – provided you know when you sent the money, the amount you sent and the country that the money was sent to, you can apply for a refund.
If you sent the money a long time ago, you may be struggling to remember the date that you sent it. Think about what else was happening in your life at the time: had you been recently bereaved; moved house; was there a birth in the family; was it around the time of a major sporting, political or world event?
If you haven’t kept all of your bank statements you may need to ask your bank to send you copies, which will be much easier if you can identify the year involved.
Your petition can be filed electronically on or before 31st May 2018 or you can print the form and send it in the post – it must be postmarked on or before 31 May 2018, and mailed to United States v. The Western Union Company, P.O. Box 404027, Louisville, KY 40233-4027.
Halton Trading Standards produced a guide for The One Show on how to complete your claim – find it on its website.
Halton Borough Council’s Executive Board Member for Trading Standards, Cllr Dave Cargill, said: ” You do not have to pay to get your money back. Don’t pay anyone who says they can file a claim for you.
“Nobody will ever call you to ask for your bank account or credit card number. It’s free to file your claim form, and you can only do it online or by mail. Find the claim form and the only real address that accepts claims at www.westernunionremission.com
It will take up to a year to validate all the claims it gets and return money to people.
If you are a Halton resident and need help to file the claim, please contact one of our specialist officers, Linda or Sue, on 0151 511 8785 or 0151 511 8775, who are already working with people in Halton who have lost thousands of pounds to scams.
If you need advice on anything else please contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline or 03454 04 05 06.