Western Union Lawsuit for Fraudulent Pick-Up of Money Transfer
A class action lawsuit has been filed against Western Union. It claims that the company does not do enough to protect customers against fraudulent money transfers. This lawsuit is about a money transfer from Pittsburgh to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The person who was supposed to receive the money ($1,400) was told that the 10-digit MTCN number (a number assigned to every money transfer, used to track it) was invalid. The plaintiff alleges that the transfer had already been paid out by a company called Kin Distribution. An impostor had picked up the payment. That impostor provided Kin Distribution with the MTCN number and a forged ID and received the money intended for the plaintiff’s brother.
The Western Union class action lawsuit claims that the plaintiff contacted Western Union. Western Union then said it would investigate what happened. The plaintiff claims that Western Union determined that it delivered funds to the correct person. They closed the investigation after that. So, the plaintiff basically lost $1,400.
“The applicable federal statute and regulations provide that a remittance transfer provider is liable for such an error ‘unless the failure to make the funds available resulted from . . . [e]xtraordinary circumstances that could not have been reasonably anticipated,’” the lawsuit claims.
The plaintiff has filed claims for damages under the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, Pennsylvania’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, declaratory and injunctive relief.
Lawsuit Details
The Western Union Class Action Lawsuit is Moses Luemba v. The Western Union Company, Case No. 2:19-cv-01243, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
HT: topclassactions
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