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MoneyGram, states strike deal on transfers
(News & Observer, The (Raleigh, NC) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jul. 3--MoneyGram Payment Systems has reached a settlement with North Carolina, 43 other states and the District of Columbia.
The company has promised to take steps to reduce the use of its services by unscrupulous telemarketers, Attorney General Roy Cooper said. The deal is similar to one that a number of attorneys general struck with Western Union in 2005.
As part of the agreement, MoneyGram will place prominent warnings to consumers on the fronts of the forms used to wire money, and it will fund a $1.1 million national consumer awareness program.
"Telemarketing scammers are experts at tricking people into wiring them money," Cooper said in a statement. "This agreement will help stop scammers from using wire transfers to rip off consumers."
Wire transfers to telemarketing fraud rings are a major problem. In 2002, U.S. consumers lost about $113 million through wire transfers to Canadian scam artists.
In most cases, the scam artists tell their targets that they have won a prize, but that they must first wire money to cover taxes and fees. But the people who send the money never get the prize.
MoneyGram, based in Minneapolis, offers money-transfer services at more than 25,000 locations across the country and more than 100,000 locations worldwide.
In North Carolina, MoneyGram operates in 168 cities and towns, mostly at grocery stores, gas stations and other retail businesses.
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