This file image shows the corporate brand logo signage mounted on the red brick facade of a Walmart retail store alongside an American flag and shopping carts in Saratoga Springs, Utah, United States, on Sept. 27, 2026. (Photo by Charles-McClintock W
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is sending payments that will total more than $9.8 million to customers of Walmart’s wire services who the agency says fell victim to scams.
What You Should Know:
The FTC is sending checks to 65,022 affected customers. The agency says those customers should cash their checks within 90 days, as indicated on the check.
Customers who have questions about their payment should contact the refund administrator, Rust Consulting Inc., at 833-472-1990 or visit the FTC website to review frequently asked questions about the process.
The FTC never requires people to pay money or provide account information to get a payment.
The backstory:
In a complaint, the FTC accused Walmart of failing to implement effective anti-fraud policies and procedures, not properly training its employees and failing to warn customers about potential fraud related to money transfers.
The FTC’s June 2022 complaint alleged that between 2013 and 2018, Walmart (including in its capacity as an agent of MoneyGram, Western Union and Ria), allowed its money transfer services to be used by scammers who defrauded customers.
The FTC says scammers were able to take hundreds of millions of dollars from U.S. customers using the company’s wire transfer services.
Walmart settled the charges in June 2025. Under the settlement, Walmart must "take appropriate actions to effectively detect and prevent fraud-induced money transfers," according to the FTC.
What they're saying:
Christopher Mufarrige the director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection said at the time of the settlement that electronic money transfers are one of the most common ways that scammers tell consumers to send them money.
"Because once it’s sent, it’s gone for good," Mufarrige said. "Companies that provide these services must train their employees to comply with the law and work to protect consumers."
Dig deeper:
In settling the complaint, Walmart agreed to pay $10 million for refunds to customers. But the agreement also prohibits Walmart from:
- Providing money transfer services without taking timely and appropriate action to effectively detect and prevent fraud-induced money transfers;
- Sending or paying out any money transfer that it knows, or consciously avoids knowing, is a fraud-induced money transfer;
- Substantially assisting or supporting any seller or telemarketer that it knows, or consciously avoids knowing, is accepting a cash-to-cash money transfer as payment for goods, services or charitable contributions sought through telemarketing; and
- Substantially assisting or supporting any telemarketer that it knows, or consciously avoids knowing, has asked a consumer to pay in advance for a loan or credit extension.
The Source: Information in this story came from the Federal Trade Commission. This story was reported from Orlando.