FTC Legal Team Honored For Uncovering Wire Fraud Scams
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Innocent people have lost millions falling victim to scams that required the to send money.
But many have had their savings returned, thanks to the work of a legal team with the Federal Trade Commission in Chicago.
"We think billions of dollars were flowing through Western Union since about 2004 to scammers. International scammers," said Karen Dodge of the FTC.
CBS 2 Investigator Pam Zekman spoke to the FTC team after it won the prestigious national Service To America award. As a result of two court orders, money transfer companies Western Union and MoneyGram had to pay a whopping 604 million dollars to victims of scams.
"Hopefully this will put a huge in frauds in the future," added Dodge.
As a result of that settlement, Western Union and MoneyGram must now post signs and warn customers if they suspect they are victims of fraud. CBS 2 Investigator Pam Zekman has gone undercover to make sure those warnings are happening.