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FTC Sues Walmart for Facilitating Money Transfer Fraud

ftc.gov

181–185 of 185 posts

Re: FTC Sues Walmart for Facilitating Money Transfer Fraud

#181

This week a fast food worker was shot and killed because someone had too much mayo on their burger. You think a company is going to tell ten dollar an hour workers to piss off criminals?

by that loguc they can just skip the fraud part entirely and demand all the money at gunpoint

if you suspect fraud and fear violence, give then marked bills and call the authorities

Re: FTC Sues Walmart for Facilitating Money Transfer Fraud

#182
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This concern > opposed to turning private companies into arms of federal law enforcement agencies. does not explain this policy > “If you suspect fraud, complete the transaction.” If there is suspicion of fraud and yet still direct your employees complete the transaction, sure, maybe you're not literally in favor of fraud. But it does mean that you don't care if there's fraud. There's little daylight between not cari…

This concern > opposed to turning private companies into arms of federal law enforcement agencies. does not explain this policy > “If you suspect fraud, complete the transaction.” Sure it does. It's not Walmart's job to investigate fraud or any other crime. Their cashier's aren't trained in jurisprudence. And, frankly, a corporate policy of "deny service to customers who you suspect might be up to no good" is just a…

These are valid concerns. But both options are extremes. There's a lot of middle ground between don't complete any suspected fraud transactions and always complete suspected fraud transactions.

Re: FTC Sues Walmart for Facilitating Money Transfer Fraud

#183
post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s a well established, well documented pattern of conduct by Walmart that suggests otherwise. In a town near me, the store generates ~3000 arrests a year, to the point that the town has a police substation on the premises.

> In a town near me, the store generates ~3000 arrests a year Of first time shoplifters? I find this incredible, as when I worked Walmart (admittedly eons ago) you had to be a very well known repeat offender to get caught. Everyone else would simply be yelled at to leave at best. Target (from friends at the time) even had a policy to simply let thieves do their thing and document until they hit the threshold for a fe…

Depends on the location/state of the store

Re: FTC Sues Walmart for Facilitating Money Transfer Fraud

#184

It is inconceivable to ask minimum wage Walmart employees to detect fraud, detect fake IDs, and conduct suspicious activity investigations. It costs much more money to conduct those checks than $1 or so that Walmart charges for its transfers. Walmart will simply stop providing those services, which were used primarily by disadvantaged populations and immigrants.

That's on Walmart. Obviously we don't want to make things harder for already disadvantaged communities, but we simply can't let Walmart off the hook when they specifically tell their employees to complete transactions even when they suspect fraud. There are just too many stories from Walmart employees who KNEW a person was being scammed but they were required to complete the transaction.

They are free to warn the person getting scammed, but it's not their job to decide for a grown adult person what they should do with their money. The elderly and the gullible should have their relatives and social workers looking out for their finances, not Walmart employees.

What's next, fine Walmart for selling junk food because people are getting fat and dying (by the way much more costly problem than scam transfers).

Re: FTC Sues Walmart for Facilitating Money Transfer Fraud

#185
post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was chatting with an elderly man in front of me in line at the post office years ago. He was complaining that he had already paid so many fees but was really close to collecting his winnings from the Australian lottery (we were in the US). And according to him, he never even entered the lottery. I told him that this was a common scam and that they were simply stealing his money and to not send them anymore. He said…

My father, who is in his 70s, and mentally very sharp, although a little hard of hearing, was trying to organize a wire transfer from Australia to me in the US for around $25K. He had a hell of a time doing it, not even as a matter of international wire logistics, but convincing the bank staff to "allow" him to do so because they were "concerned he was being scammed". On one hand I appreciated their concern, but as h…

Frustrating, but I think a necessary thing considering how common older people are scammed. The name you are wiring to doesn't necessarily mean anything. And it is a very common scam for people to impersonate overseas family members and ask for money. So good on them for doing some due diligence. Especially someone who is hard of hearing can be susceptible to this type of scam because it may be more difficult to recognize a loved one's voice over the phone.
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