BATON ROUGE, LA – If scammers had you pay them via Western Union, you may be entitled to get your money back. These potential refunds are being made available through a $586 million settlement between the Western Union Company, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, and 50 other attorneys general.

“Many in Louisiana fell victim to Western Union-related scams, so I am thrilled they will now be able to recover some or all of their losses,” said General Landry. “My office will continue to work diligently to ensure the recovery process goes smoothly for all the victims in our State.” 

General Landry encourages consumers who lost money to scammers telling them to pay via Western Union’s money transfer system between January 1, 2004 and January 19, 2017 to file a claim at www.ftc.gov/WU before February 12, 2018. Filing a claim is free, so General Landry says consumers should not pay anyone to file a claim on their behalf.

While no one associated with the claims process will call to ask for consumers’ bank account or credit card information, the mailed claim form will ask for their Social Security numbers so the United States Department of Justice may determine if money is owed to the Federal Government – a required step before checks are issued.

Some Louisianans who have already reported their losses to Western Union, the Federal Trade Commission, or General Landry’s Office may receive a claim form in the mail. If you filed a claim and do not receive a claim form in the mail, visit www.westernunionremission.com or call 1-844-319-2124. Again, all completed claims forms must be mailed back to the settlement administrator by February 12, 2018.

For more information on this claims process, please see the infographic below or call General Landry’s Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-800-351-4889.

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