Western Union New Procedures?

slidewilly · Mar 5, 2005

I allow myself to play college hoops every March. Don't have the time for it the rest of the year. I followed my usual M.O. this morning to make a deposit to my offshore account. Went to a local Western Union outlet to deposit $3,000. Went smooth as silk at the outlet. However the $ wasn't showing up in the account and I was about to call the book when I got a call from someone at Western Union. They asked me to confirm that I "personally know the receiver of the money and that this isn't a lottery or something else you're buying off the Internet." I was surprised he didn't come right out and ask about offshore books. The deposit was sent to Costa Rica, per the book's instructions. I stretched the truth just a little and said I knew the recipient. (Hell, I feel like I know them, we've done a lot of bid'ness over the years!) The guy said okay, we'll make the $ available.

I called the book and told them about this--never happened to me before--and asked if they knew what was up. I didn't get much of answer so I'm asking you folks. What's up with this? And do they only do it for amounts above a certain threshhold? It pisses me off royally that we have to jump through hoops like this just to play a little. We ought to be able to use online banking right out of our checking accounts. Damn moralists!

peteep · Mar 5, 2005

Wu has gotten heat from the US government about allowing their services to be used for gaming activities. I assume certain dollar amounts being sent to certain countries look suspicious. I wouldn't be concerned, probably just a procedure in place so they can say they put measures in place to restrict gaming related transactions.

RobFunk · Mar 5, 2005

thats incredible. he really has no right to ask you that.

HPark1 · Mar 5, 2005

send under 1k to avoid complications.

sherman · Mar 5, 2005

RobFunk said:
thats incredible. he really has no right to ask you that.

i agree.

Anonymous1 · Mar 5, 2005

i reup with 500.00 to costa rica and all i get is a sh!t eaten grin from the wu clerk

JimFiestSux · Mar 5, 2005

Western Union have you on tape verifying that you know the person you are sending to, covering their arses in case the feds give them heat.

soccerbob · Mar 5, 2005

slidewilly- I no longer use Western Union because something similar happened to me. They have tightened things up a bit and are asking way too many questions. My suggestion for anyone still using them is to keep your deposits below $1000 as one poster suggested or if you're going to try to send something like $3000 as you did; then break it down like $1600 and $1400 and go to two different places and wait a couple hours or so between transactions if possible.

JimFiestSux · Mar 5, 2005

SoccerBob,

Western Union knows everymove you make. Bottom line is they don't want to lose business. They ask questions only cause our own government is breaking their balls. Western Union is on our side as they love the transaction fees they make offshore.

newton0038 · Mar 5, 2005

The Feds can take their heat and burn their own ass with it. If it is illegal then the MAN would have shut them down 5 years ago. WU should grow a set of balls and tell the Feds to:finger: untill a bill is passed that would make such transactions illegal. Isn't uttering threats (like what the feds do everyday) illegal??

shockltvalue · Mar 5, 2005

If you are consistently sending large amounts using the same name to a country associated with gambling then Western Union gets suspicious. A good thing to do would be to change the sender's name a lot.

Dante · Mar 5, 2005

Welcome to the RX shockvalue...good luck!

JimFiestSux · Mar 5, 2005

Only so many WU outlets and if you return to an office consistently using different senders names, this would raise a red flag quicker than say I'm sending to a friend. But then again everytime time you send its to a different name, and how many friends can a person have that he or she sends money to constantly??

shockltvalue · Mar 5, 2005

Only so many WU outlets and if you return to an office consistently using different senders names, this would raise a red flag quicker than say I'm sending to a friend. But then again everytime time you send its to a different name, and how many friends can a person have that he or she sends money to constantly??

Good point, but then again not everyone is as smart as you. I know of more than one person who uses only WU to send funds offshore. One of them eventually had their funds frozen pending an investigation by WU b/c he kept sending money to same person from the same place everytime. The book had told him to change the sender since he could not send in his name anymore.
WU is so hard to use now that it is pretty much obsolete. NeTeller is the only way I go.

Thanks Dante. I have pretty much been a lurker for a about 2 years and finally decided.. what the heck.

SENDITIN · Mar 5, 2005

Why are people still wasting time with Western Union when Neteller is available virtually everywhere? Have been through all of the game playing with Western Union hundreds of times in the past. Eventually they are going to catch on and you will be put on a watch list. They are not only looking at the RECEIVER, but also the WHERE, the AMOUNT, the FREQUENCY and obviously the WHO is sending.

Post up at Neteller and be done with the aggravation.

P.S. My favorite was when the clerk used to yell out the total amount so the entire store could here....."That wil be two thousand one hundred and twenty five dollars." And this always seem to happen when you had 3 or 4 guys who looked like Lander standing behind you.

JimFiestSux · Mar 5, 2005

Shock,
If I was smart I wouldn't be involved in the gambling industry as a player. Neteller is good but in time they will be watched also if not already. Bottom line is that there are supposedly over 1800 places to bet online. Western Union is making millions on fees for offshore gambling. Money talks in everry aspect of the world. Gambling online has overtaken the porn industry by far online. And is growing every day. Feds really will never be able to stop unless a bill is passed. Even then it won't stop.

shockltvalue · Mar 5, 2005

Shock,
If I was smart I wouldn't be involved in the gambling industry as a player. Neteller is good but in time they will be watched also if not already. Bottom line is that there are supposedly over 1800 places to bet online. Western Union is making millions on fees for offshore gambling. Money talks in everry aspect of the world. Gambling online has overtaken the porn industry by far online. And is growing every day. Feds really will never be able to stop unless a bill is passed. Even then it won't stop.

Good post Jim. Completely true. Money does talk, but for the player the stress of using Western Union just isn't worth it sometimes. Especially with those books that take a long time to add your money to your account.

Anonymous1 · Mar 5, 2005

oly always post $$ within 30 minutes...yeah i wonder sometimes while waiting for the wu transaction to complete if the feds will walk-in and haul my ass away...just like the 10 year old girl for down loading music ...

Rainbow · Mar 5, 2005

If the FEDS want you, it doesnt matter who you use.

microphone · Mar 6, 2005

SENDITIN said:
Why are people still wasting time with Western Union when Neteller is available virtually everywhere? Have been through all of the game playing with Western Union hundreds of times in the past. Eventually they are going to catch on and you will be put on a watch list. They are not only looking at the RECEIVER, but also the WHERE, the AMOUNT, the FREQUENCY and obviously the WHO is sending.

Post up at Neteller and be done with the aggravation.

P.S. My favorite was when the clerk used to yell out the total amount so the entire store could here....."That wil be two thousand one hundred and twenty five dollars." And this always seem to happen when you had 3 or 4 guys who looked like Lander standing behind you.