Consumer complaint received 2022-01-27
Company: WESTERN UNION COMPANY, THE
State: MD
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: International money transfer
Issue: Other service problem

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX I completed an online request via Western Union for a {$30.00} Money Transfer from XXXX, MD ( USA ) to XXXX, XXXX ( XXXX XXXX ). The total amount rendered was {$33.00} given the {$3.00} fee. Upon two attempts by the verified recipient, Western Union in XXXX requested that my bank was contacted to confirm that the payment was cleared. On XXXX XXXX I contacted my bank. My bank found this odd where the transaction was cleared and no fraud was detected. On XX/XX/XXXX I contacted Western Union who shared that because the money was sent to XXXX they have additional alerts due to the potential for fraud. This initial designation ( XXXX ) was concerning, where I am aware that there is fraud in every country. The Western Union rep went on to ask me the following questions to verify the transaction was not fraudulent ( the agent noted that these are to protect this transaction from fraud ) : 1. My name and the recipient 's name. 2. My relationship with the recipient. ( cousin ). 3. Why did I send the money? ( tutoring services ) 4.When was the last time I saw my cousin face to face? ( XXXX ) 5. How was I introduced to my cousin for the first time? ( at birth ) 4. Did you meet your cousin in XXXX? ( yes ) 5. How long have you known your cousin? ( his entire life ) 6. How do you communicate with your cousin? ( internationally ) 7. Whenever I receive voice communication do I recognize my cousin 's voice? ( yes ) As a consumer, customer, family member, first generation American, and criminologist I found this experience horrifying, traumatizing. Again by initially acknowledging the problem is " XXXX '' alerted me to the reality that where XXXX is a predominately XXXX country there may be exclusive checks in place that should apply to every country because every country has fraud, fraudulent Western Union transactions. Then the questions in no way verify that me as the sender or my cousin as the receiver was being protected from fraud. 

When the online transaction was initially made it was clear that Western Union had protections in place. # 1 The recipient would have to bring photo ID in order to pick up the {$30.00}. # 2 Only myself and the recipient had the transaction number to verify who should pick this up. At no time during the initial transaction was it clear that Western Union would ask me the very personal, unrelated, barrage of questions. I was offended and concerned that this is a practice the company uses. 

All of this led to my transaction being cancelled and a refund being issued. Soon after receiving the cancellation email, Western Union sent an email stating that the transaction was cleared and that the recipient could pick up the funds ( all confusing, misleading, and concerning ). My cousin did not receive the money through Western Union as promised. It is clear that Western Union likely discriminates based on the demographics of a country. It is clear that a predominately XXXX nation like XXXX is targeted as highly criminal, hence there's a gross assumption that every transaction ( including this small transaction involving {$30.00} ) would lend to this disturbing series of questions and assumptions about the legitimacy of a transaction. 

As a person who trains law enforcement, acknowledging systemic racism/ discrimination it is clear that Western Union needs to be cited for problematic practices. I have noted that a similar complaint was filed regarding monies sent to XXXX countries that are predominately XXXX. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX I have experienced first hand the pains of the criminal label that led to harm - my cousin not receiving promised funds and my being traumatized by the experience, especially involving the invasive questions. 

Please note the following : 1. The Employee ID # XXXX for XXXX ( the initial Western Union Rep ) 2. The XXXX XXXX ( employee ID # XXXX ) 3. XXXX ( Employee ID # XXXX ) in the fraud unit 4. The Western Union Case # XXXX where a complaint was filed directly Also please note that when my bank or credit card company verifies transactions ( via the fraud protection process ), the following questions are asked the amount of the transaction, the time of day the transaction was made, a security code, etc. NEVER have I been asked such unrelated personal/ invasive questions. I am hopeful that this will not only be reviewed on my behalf but across the board whereby my hope is that no one else will be harmed as I have.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation