Western Union advises all consumers to use caution when using money transfer services to send funds to persons unknown to them or persons whose identity is not verifiable. The Western Union Money transfer is intended as a fast, convenient, user-friendly service to transfer funds between two parties who know each other. Please ensure that you know the beneficiary of your money personally, and do not fall victim to solicitation by strangers.
Currently, two of the most prevalent types of fraud are phishing and so-called job scams. In the context of phishing, criminals contact consumers representing themselves as a legitimate business for the purpose of obtaining the consumers personal financial information. Once obtained, criminals may drain the consumers bank account, charge purchases to his credit card or even open fraudulent accounts in the consumer’s name.
A similar type of fraud recruit innocent consumers to act as “financial managers.” In this job scam, consumers believe they are working for a legitimate business and allow funds to be transferred into their personal accounts. These consumers then withdraw the funds and transfer them to a third party using a money transfer service.
These funds, usually the proceeds of other criminal activity, then become much more difficult or even impossible to trace. While the consumer may have entered into this relationship in good faith, he or she is actually participating in criminal activity and may be vulnerable to prosecution.
Advice:
• Protect yourself against so-called phishing attacks and avoid sending confidential information via email
• Do not provide strangers with access to your bank account (e.g., to use as a so-called “transfer account“)
• Be sure that you can verify the identity of those to whom you are transferring money and use extreme caution when transferring money to strangers
• Further information and security advice regarding online banking and phishing is available from Western Union agents e.g., at www.postbank.de/sicherheit
Money transfer with Western Union – how does it work?
Visit one of our Western Union agent locations , where you will simply need to fill out a ‘To Send Money’ form, detailing the destination of the transfer and the names of the individual or company receiving the money. The agent will collect the transfer amount, plus the applicable transfer fee and process the transaction.
Within minutes* the recipient can withdraw the funds in cash in the desired country of destination by completing a ‘To Receive Money’ form at a Western Union agent location and providing:
• a valid photo ID or passport
• the data necessary for the withdrawal (first name, family name, expected amount, country of dispatch)
Declaring the MTCN number (MoneyTransferControlNumber = order number) is very useful in speeding the transaction, but is not a requirement.
*Payment subject to hours of operation of local agent locations, and difference in time zones and other applicable restrictions.
