Consumer complaint received 2025-08-12 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Foreign currency exchange
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: MONEYGRAM PAYMENT SYSTEMS WORLDWIDE INC
State: FL

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/XXXX, two unknown and unrecognizable Moneygram debits in the amounts of {$400.00} and {$300.00} posted to my XXXX checking account. I didn't do these transactions and immediately recognized them as fraud. I contacted XXXX 's customer service call center and had my debit card shut down and filed a dispute. I initially believed the fraud might have occurred by a scammer getting my debit card number from a publicly accessible card reader at a gas station as I had gone to one the previous night but I can't be sure of this so I had my debit card closed and a new debit card issued just to be safe. I also received emails from Moneygram telling me I opened a new account and confirming that the two transactions, one for {$400.00} and the other for {$300.00}, had gone through. I still have those emails and can provide them if need be. This indicated to me that the fraudster had stolen my identity and used my credentials to open a fraud Moneygram account which was linked to my email. I immediately contacted Moneygram, told them this wasn't me and had them close down the bogus account. I also contacted the credit bureaus to place a freeze on my credit. Following the dispute, I had both of these transactions credited back to my account in the form of provisional credits from XXXX. 

Months went by. On XX/XX/XXXX, I logged into my XXXX Online Banking account and discovered the provisional credits had been reversed out of my account on XX/XX/XXXX. I immediately contacted the customer service call center but could not get adequate resolution. I was extremely upset and made it known I needed to speak to a supervisor. I was transferred to a manager who was one of the most unhelpful and useless employees I've spoken to. In curt and dismissive terms, he told me there was nothing anyone could do after the dispute investigations team made their decision. I told him this was absolutely unacceptable and insisted I speak to the branch manager at the branch where my account is located. I no longer live in XXXX  ( I moved to XXXX, XXXX a few years ago ) but my account is at the XXXX XXXX branch, where I opened it. I spoke to the XXXX XXXX branch manager who said she has no control over decisions made by the dispute investigations team but she seemed willing to try to help me. She advised the decision came about because the dispute resolution investigators had reached out to Moneygram and they had come to the conclusion that the IP address used by whomever created the Moneygram account was the same as mine. This is absolutely incorrect. I'm not sure if this is XXXX 's mistake or Moneygram 's mistake or if the fraudster is somehow able to spoof my IP address but this is an incorrect conclusion and needs to be reversed. 

She put me in touch with the market manager who stated she can not unilaterally overwrite a decision made by the dispute investigations team but she was hopeful that they could reconsider since I had made the additional effort to reach out to Moneygram again to confirm that the fraud account was indeed closed for fraud. The Moneygram representative I spoke to confirmed the account was closed for fraud but when I asked him if he could please provide this as written evidence, he stated that he can not. But he did confirm that he would escalate the issue to a specialist team so that if my bank resubmitted the dispute, they should be able to verify that this account was fraudulent. I was eager to get this re-submitted but the XXXX managers again told me that there was nothing they could do at this point but suggested I try reaching out to Visa or possibly filing a report with my local police. I explained this wouldn't help, I sincerely doubt my local police could get my money back in a case of digital identity theft. As for reaching out to XXXX, I don't know who to contact. What is the number? What department do I speak to? I am left stranded, I have no idea what to do at this point. I again reached out to a representative at the call center but this went nowhere. I also spoke to the market manager 's immediate supervisor who told me that XXXX 's decision is final and not able to be appealed. 

From what I've been told, XXXX is now completely unable to resubmit or reopen this dispute because XXXX will not allow for the possibility of a re-filed dispute after the merchant ( in this case, Moneygram ) gives them information regarding a decision. In this case, Moneygram 's assertion that the fraud account used my IP address is wrong. Like I stated in the email, I am not sure whether this is a mistake on Moneygram 's part or if the scammer was able to spoof my IP address somehow but Moneygram has also confirmed to me verbally that they shut down the fraud account that was illegally opened using my credentials because they recognized it as fraud. So Moneygram is talking out of both sides of their mouth : they provided this incorrect information about an IP address, which has effectively closed and invalidated the entire dispute in one fell swoop, and they're also acknowledging over the phone that the bogus account was fraudulent so they closed it. XXXX managers have said that Visa will NOT revisit this case so there's nothing left that XXXX can possibly do. 

There is so much that is left unexplained and confusing to me and I can't get anywhere talking with XXXX representatives. Why would XXXX be completely unable to revisit this dispute? Are there NO circumstances where someone needs to contest a decision? Why is Moneygram somehow considered infallible? Why is Moneygram, a company that has had a dubious history, the final bottom line when they themselves are conflicted? Why is my own bank not backing me up in this situation? XXXX refusing to relitigate this case and Moneygram being unchallengeable sound like unreasonable and, frankly, unbelievable assertions. Am I meant to believe there are no occasions where a disputed fraud charge would need to be appealed? Are merchants infallible, even when they're providing two different narratives? Every person I've talked to at XXXX is trying their hardest to get me to shut up and go away so they can wash their hands of this whole situation. 

My account is over XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX has not been able to help. I am a victim. I need to have a total of {$700.00} put back into my account. That's not a small amount of money for me, I need that money to live. My account is in good standing and has had no suspicious activity or dispute abuse in over 25 years. The level of help I've received is UNACCEPTABLE.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation