The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against Walmart on Tuesday, accusing the retail giant of looking the other way while scammers hijacked its money transfer business, costing consumers hundreds of millions in losses.
Federal regulators allege in the suit filed in federal court in Illinois that Walmart failed to monitor its money transfers services at its stores, allowing fraudsters to use them to quickly and easily wire money around and convert it to cash, serving as a powerful tool in ripping off scam victims.
“While scammers used its money transfer services to make off with cash, Walmart looked the other way and pocketed millions in fees,” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s bureau of consumer protection said in a statement. “Consumers have lost hundreds of millions, and the commission is holding Walmart accountable for letting fraudsters fleece its customers.”
The FTC asked the court in its suit to order Walmart to return money that had been taken from consumers and impose civil penalties.
In a statement, Walmart
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called the action a “factually flawed and legally baseless civil lawsuit,” and said it would fight it aggressively in court.
Walmart offers a number of financial services to customers in its stores, including money transfers, credit cards, reloadable debit cards, check cashing and bill payment. It also serves as an agent for other money transfer services,…
