WU pickup without MTCN?

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Not quite a Newb Joined: 06 Apr 2007 Posts: 46

Dear Fellow Eaters,

I've been following the eater for a long time, and I'm pretty savvy
or so I thought, but today I got scammed. It's a long story,
but basically I thought that I could send money to someone through
Western Union and be able to get the money back, so long as I did
not provide the MTCN to them. Nope. They picked up the money
without the MTCN. They knew my (the sender's) phone number, but
not my name or the MTCN. I live in the US, and the scammer lives
in Mexico. Bah. Oh well, not much I can do now. But I thought
I would share that with you, since I've long been reading about
the contortions scammers would go through to get the precious MTCN.

Cheers, and keep up the good work...

-B-

Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 10:54 pm

???^^^??? you actually send money ?? and he has your phone number ??

Master Baiter Joined: 20 Oct 2006 Posts: 179

That's... very surprising, to say the least. I knew that you could pick up a WU money transfer with at minimum the sender's name and the answer to the challenge question, but with only a phone number? Sounds like it would be profitable for thieves to simply get a phone book and start trying random phone numbers...

Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 11:01 pm

Does Western Union have different rules for different countries?

Maybe WU requires the MTCN for Africa.

Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 11:02 pm

THAT totally sucks! Evil or Very Mad

B

Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 11:19 pm

^^^^ What he said.

@Bosoman: I hope you didn't loose a lot of money.

Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 11:21 pm

A MTCN is not required to collect a remittance. It is just a convenience tool.
As with anything else, you should read the terms and conditions before using the service. They are available online and at all WU outlets.

Whilst I'm sorry to see anyone losing money, especially to scammers, I despair at the fact that someone could send money to a scammer and then complain that the scammer received it. Confused

Not quite a Newb Joined: 06 Apr 2007 Posts: 46

Yeah, this wasnt a bait, this was a real life situation where
I actually do have a need to send money to someone in Mexico,
but the scammer stole my phone number from the correct person,
and called me first. I thought I would be safe by only providing
the MTCN once I was sure it was the correct person, but alas...

-B-

Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 11:54 pm

Sitting here (US) looking at a current legit form from WU ( DFMTOSNDB 10/06)
Unfortunately, it has nothing on the face or in the legal fine print on the back saying anything about MTCN number needed for pickup. Only mention is the space for it in the area designated "Agent Use Only"

>On a side note it says about the test question:

Under 'Other Services' it was wrote:

If sending less than $1000, and your receiver does not have identification, provide Test question and answer. (The maximum amount that can be picked up without I.D. is subject to change without notice).

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 18 Mar 2008 Posts: 15

Does that mean the scammer knows your real name now?

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2008 2:41 pm

I don't think the scammer is coming after him. He got his money. As he said, this is not part of a bait.

Master Baiter Joined: 11 Nov 2006 Posts: 199

I don't know....

Once there is blood in the water, it tends to attract thing...

They already have too much information. Be on alert.

I do a lot of crime prevention work... if you want to discuss this or have any questions, please feel free to PM me.