Consumer complaint received 2017-01-04
Company: MONEYGRAM PAYMENT SYSTEMS WORLDWIDE INC
State: AZ
Product: Money transfers
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Other transaction issues

Complaint:
I wanted to purchase a phone from a lady. We agreed that it was to far to drive so she would overnite the phone me via fed ex and AFTER i reieved the phone i would THEN GIVE HER THE REF. NUMBER so she could go get the money. She was to send me the fed ex tracking info within a couple minutes of me doing the money gram as she was at fed ex waiting. I called money gram on XX/XX/2017 to confirm that UNTIL I GAVE HER the reference number that the money COULD NOT be picked up. They confirmed that was correct. I even ASKED them about A REFUND to ME if the transaction fell thru ( and i did not recieve my phone ) to plan ahead and make sure i could get my money back from money gram. I also called walmart PRIOR becuase that is were i was completing it and they also confirmed this and confirmed that the process of a refund was relatively simple if i needed to do that. Long story short i realized within about 20 min of sending the money gram that something wasnt right because i never heard from or could contact the person that I was buying the phone from. I called XXXX walmart IMMEDIATELY as i was driving. They said that I had to be there in person I was back within about an hour to cancel it. They checked and it had already been cashed. I ask how is this possible they have NO INFORMATION. They were dumbfounded. Walmart call moneygram. Then they put me on the phone with money gram. I told them that was IMPOSSIBLE since i never GAVE the recipient the ref number. They asked if the recipient had my name, address I had to have them ship my phone and the amount was obvious since it was thier price. Not to mention all of this is right on the moneygram that can be hacked if you know how ( i was also informed that this may have been an inside deal since it happened so QUICKLY ). They told me that if the recipient claims that they LOST the ref number and gives them my ( SENDERS ) name and amount that it was for MONEYGRAM takes it upon themselves to go ahead and release the ref number WITHOUT ANY CONTACT TO THE SENDER WHATSOEVER!! And that it was MY FAULT for giving them my info in the first place. I told them that all anyone needs is a name and general location and it takes a matter of seconds to go on the net and get ANYONES FULL ADDRESS they could have gotten it VERY easily even if i didnt give it out. I am holding moneygram FULLY responsible for my loss of the XXXX due to their negligence, deception, unauthorized distribution of private information ( Your telling me that if i have someones name, address, account number that i can walk into their bank and say I 'm here to pick up XXXX for them and they would just say OK? I DONT THINK SO ) They should in NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM NEVER be allowed to give out the senders information. ESPECIALLY with the way scams are these days. Hence that is WHY there is a ref number that the SENDER has to provide to the RECIPIENT in order for them to get the money. If it is lost ( THE RECIPIENT ) should HAVE TO CONTACT the SENDER and the SENDER should be given it again. I was told that this was a SECURE way to do this and that the money COULD NOT be accessed WITHOUT the ref number. If i would have EVER been informed in ANY WAY shape or form that this was not the case and that they leak UNAUTHORIZED information i NEVER would have even considered this. There is NOWHERE on the paperwork that i recieved that indicated ANYTHING different than what i was told or any reference to anything THAT MAY BE DIFFERENT than what i was told. It is ludicrous that a company thinks that they even have a legal right to do what they did. 
They are a very shady irresponsible deceptive company and need to be held accountable for their lack of security and fraudulent actions that cost me alot of money time and hassle. I feel that it isnt as much about the scam as THE FACT that moneygram ALLOWED/ACCTUALLY MADE this happen

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation