Published
May 25, 2026
Updated
September 6, 2026
If a Western Union wire transfer you sent between 2004 and 2020 turned out to be a scam, you may be able to recover the full amount through the DOJ's Phase 3 victim remission — but you have to file a petition.
What Is the Western Union Phase 3 Remission Program?
If you sent money through Western Union between 2004 and 2020 and it turned out to be a scam, the U.S. Department of Justice may owe you a full refund. Phase 3 of the Western Union victim remission program is now open through August 19, 2026, and unlike most class action settlements, approved petitioners receive the full amount of their fraud-induced wire transfer rather than a pro rata fraction. Phase 1 alone distributed over $366 million to more than 148,000 victims, and over 175,000 victims in total have already been compensated across Phases 1 and 2, all at full loss recovery.The Western Union remission program traces back to the company's January 19, 2017 deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, in which Western Union admitted to willfully failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and to aiding and abetting wire fraud. Western Union forfeited $586 million as part of that agreement, the largest financial forfeiture ever imposed on a money services business at the time. The forfeited funds are being distributed to fraud victims under the federal remission process governed by Title 28 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 9.
What is new about Phase 3: Phase 1 (which closed in 2019) and Phase 2 (which closed in 2022) were limited to fraud-induced wire transfers sent between January 1, 2004 and January 19, 2017 (the date of the deferred prosecution agreement). Phase 3 extends the eligibility period to cover transfers through March 9, 2020, capturing an additional three-year window of victims whose Western Union scam transfers were previously outside the program's reach. The Remission Administrator, Verita Global LLC (formerly known as Gilardi & Co. LLC), is currently accepting petitions through the official Settlement Website at westernunionremissionphase3.com.
Status
Phase 3 Open
Deadline
August 19, 2026
petition postmarked or submitted online by this date
Payout
Full Loss Recovery
100% of verified transfer amount (not pro rata) · over 175,000 victims fully compensated in Phases 1-2
Proof Required
Yes
10-digit MTCN, sent date, and sent amount required per transfer; receipts and supporting documents uploadable online
Who Qualifies for the Western Union Phase 3 Remission?
You may be eligible for full reimbursement if all of the following are true:• You sent a wire transfer through Western Union
• The transfer was sent between January 1, 2004 and March 9, 2020
• You were the victim of a fraud scheme (you sent money believing something that turned out not to be true)
• You did not previously receive full compensation for the transfer in Phase 1 or Phase 2
• You can provide the 10-digit Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN) for the transfer
Phase 3 specifically captures the extended time period of January 19, 2017 through March 9, 2020. Victims whose transfers fell in this window were previously denied (or unable to apply) under Phase 1 or Phase 2 because those phases stopped at the January 19, 2017 deferred prosecution agreement date. If your fraud transfer was in this 2017-to-2020 window, you now have a path to recovery.
You do NOT need to be a U.S. citizen to file. The program is open to fraud victims globally; foreign currency transfers are eligible (converted to U.S. dollars using historical exchange rates). If you are not a U.S. citizen, simply check the appropriate box on the petition.
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What Types of Western Union Scams Are Covered?
The remission program covers a broad range of consumer fraud schemes where the fraudster directed the victim to send money via Western Union. The most common scams documented by the DOJ and FTC investigators are described below. If your situation resembles any of these, you likely qualify.| Scam Type | How It Works | Eligibility Signal |
|---|---|---|
| Grandparent Scam | Fraudster calls you posing as your grandchild, niece, nephew, or other relative claiming to be in emergency trouble (arrested, hospitalized, stranded abroad) and urgently needing money. Often instructs you not to tell other family members. You wire money via Western Union; the "relative" disappears. | Common in 2004-2020; high success rate against elderly victims |
| Lottery / Sweepstakes Scam | Fraudster contacts you (mail, phone, email) claiming you won a large cash prize, foreign lottery, or sweepstakes. To "claim" the prize, you must first wire money for taxes, processing fees, customs duties, or "release" fees. No prize is ever delivered. | Particularly heavy 2004-2015; targeted older demographics |
| Romance Scam | Fraudster contacts you on a dating site or social media, builds an online relationship over weeks or months, then asks you to wire money for an emergency, visa fees, medical bills, or travel to meet you in person. The "love interest" never appears. | Grew rapidly 2010-2020; covered for entire Phase 3 period |
| Employment Scam | Fraudster offers you a job (often "secret shopper," check-cashing assistant, or work-from-home) requiring you to wire money as part of the "training" or to "test" the wire transfer service. The job does not exist. | Common 2008-2018; targets job seekers |
| Online Purchase Scam | Fraudster lists a high-ticket item (car, motorcycle, electronics, RV) at a deeply discounted price on a marketplace site and demands payment via Western Union wire. The item is never delivered. The seller disappears. | Common throughout 2004-2020 |
| Advance Fee / Loan Scam | Fraudster offers you a loan, credit card, or financial product despite poor credit. Requires you to wire a "processing fee" or "insurance" up front. No loan is ever issued. | Common during 2008-2015 recession period |
If your scam matches any of these or a similar fraud-induced wire transfer pattern, you should file a Petition for Remission. Variations and combinations are common; the DOJ's review focuses on whether you were fraudulently induced to send money via Western Union, not on whether your specific scam matches a labeled category exactly.
30-Second Self-Test: Do I Qualify?
Answer yes to all four questions and you very likely qualify for Phase 3 remission. File before August 19, 2026.• Did you send a wire transfer through Western Union (in person at an agent location or via WU.com or the Western Union app) between January 1, 2004 and March 9, 2020?
• Were you tricked into sending that money by someone who turned out to be lying about who they were or what they would do with the money?
• Did you NOT receive what was promised (no prize, no relative rescue, no item, no job, no relationship in person)?
• Did you NOT already receive full compensation in Phase 1 or Phase 2 of the Western Union remission program?
If yes to all four, your next step is to gather your Money Transfer Control Numbers (MTCNs) and submit a Petition for Remission. If you previously filed in Phase 1 or 2 and were denied because your transactions fell outside the original time window (after January 19, 2017), Verita Global sent automatic grant letters on May 21, 2026 to previously denied petitioners whose transactions now fall within the extended Phase 3 window. If you have not received such a letter by June 8, 2026 and you believe you should have, contact Verita Global through the official Settlement Website.
How Much Money Will I Get Back?
Unlike a typical class action settlement where the fund is divided pro rata among all claimants, the Western Union remission program reimburses verified victims for the full amount of the wire transfer. Over 175,000 victims compensated in Phases 1 and 2 received the entire amount they lost. Phase 3 follows the same model.What is included:
• The principal amount of every verified Western Union wire transfer you sent as part of a fraud scheme during the eligibility period
What is NOT included (collateral expenses):
• Western Union fees you paid to send the transfer
• Incidental losses like phone bills, gas money, or other costs you incurred while being scammed
• Transfers sent through other companies (MoneyGram, Walmart2Walmart, Wise, PayPal, Zelle, etc. are not covered by this program)
• Cash you handed over in person, gift cards, or bank wires sent outside Western Union's system
Treasury Offset: if you have outstanding federal or state debts (back taxes, defaulted student loans, child support arrears, etc.), the Treasury Offset Program may apply your remission payment toward those debts before any remainder is paid to you. This is why the petition requires a Social Security Number or ITIN for U.S. citizens; the SSN/ITIN is used solely for the Treasury Offset check.
How Do I File a Petition for Remission?
There are two ways to submit your petition by the August 19, 2026 deadline:Online (recommended): Submit the Petition for Remission through the official Settlement Website at westernunionremissionphase3.com. If you received a pre-populated petition letter in the mail with a Claim ID and PIN, use those credentials to log in and confirm or modify the transactions Verita Global already has on file for you. If you did not receive a letter, you can still file a new petition online.
By mail: If you received a pre-populated petition in the mail, you can complete it and return it to the Remission Administrator at the address printed on your petition. If you did not receive a petition by mail, you can download a blank petition form from the Case Documents section of the official Settlement Website, complete it, and mail it to the Remission Administrator. Mailed petitions must be postmarked by August 19, 2026.
What you need to file: for each fraud transfer you claim, the online petition asks for three pieces of information:
• The 10-digit Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN) — the mandatory field; the petition will not process without it
• The Sent Date of the transfer (MM/DD/YYYY format)
• The Sent Amount in U.S. dollars (or foreign currency, which Verita Global will convert using historical exchange rates)
The MTCN appears on your Western Union email confirmation (for online or app transfers) or printed receipt (for in-person transfers). If you cannot locate your MTCN, Western Union maintains transaction records for 10 years and you can request a copy of your transfer history at westernunion.com. Records older than 10 years may not be retrievable from Western Union, but you can still file with whatever supporting documentation you do have (bank statements, copies of the original receipt, photographs of the receipt taken at the time, emails referencing the transfer, etc.).
Supporting documentation upload: the online petition allows you to upload up to 5 supporting documents (max 5 MB each, in JPG, JPEG, TIF, TIFF, GIF, PNG, or PDF format). This is useful if your MTCN cannot be auto-verified against Western Union's records, or if you want to provide the original Western Union receipt or related fraud documentation (police reports, fraud reports filed with Western Union at the time, bank statements showing the cash withdrawal that funded the wire, etc.).
Petitions cannot be submitted via email per the DOJ's procedural rules. The two acceptable submission methods are online through the official Settlement Website or by U.S. mail.
Key Phase 3 Remission Deadlines
• Petition postmark or online submission deadline: Wednesday, August 19, 2026
• Eligibility period for transfers: January 1, 2004 through March 9, 2020
• Automatic grant letters mailed to previously-denied petitioners whose transactions fall in the extended window: May 21, 2026 (if you should have received one but have not by June 8, 2026, contact Verita Global)
• Late petitions accepted: at the Justice Department's discretion only; not guaranteed
When Will I Get Paid?
The Department of Justice has not published a definitive timeline for Phase 3 payment distribution. Based on the cadence of Phases 1 and 2, here is a reasonable expectation:• Petition review period: after the August 19, 2026 deadline, Verita Global and the DOJ will spend several months verifying petitions against Western Union's records
• Initial review notifications: typically 3 to 6 months after the petition deadline
• Initial distributions: likely beginning in late 2026 to early 2027 for the cleanest, fully-documented petitions
• Phase 2 reference point: Phase 2 began distributions in mid-2022 and continued through 2024, with a second distribution of approximately $18.5 million in September 2024 reaching another 3,000 victims at full loss recovery
• If your petition needs supplemental documentation: Verita Global will notify you by mail; provide the requested receipts or other Western Union documents promptly to avoid delays
The Background: Why Western Union Forfeited $586 Million
Understanding why this remission program exists helps you understand why you may qualify even if your scam happened years ago.Between 2004 and 2012, Western Union processed hundreds of thousands of fraud-induced money transfers despite, according to the DOJ's findings, knowing that many of its agent locations were complicit in the scams. Internal Western Union documents showed that as early as 2004, the company's own Corporate Security Department proposed automatically suspending any agent that paid more than a small number of fraud-related transfers within a defined window. Western Union did not adopt this proposed policy. Had it done so, the DOJ found, more than 2,000 agents worldwide would have been suspended or terminated between 2004 and 2012, and significant fraud losses would have been prevented.
The DOJ's investigation also documented Western Union's failures to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act, including: failure to file required currency transaction reports for transactions over $10,000; failure to file Suspicious Activity Reports identifying complicit agents; and failure to terminate or discipline agents who repeatedly structured currency transactions to evade reporting requirements. The DOJ documented agents in California, Pennsylvania, and other districts who had been allowed to continue operating despite repeated compliance failures because of the high transaction volume they generated for Western Union.
On January 19, 2017, Western Union admitted to two felony counts in a criminal information filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania: willfully failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program (31 U.S.C. §§ 5318(h), 5322) and aiding and abetting wire fraud (18 U.S.C. §§ 1343, 2). The company forfeited $586 million as part of the deferred prosecution agreement. A parallel civil settlement with the Federal Trade Commission imposed a $586 million monetary judgment (the same amount, not duplicative) and an anti-fraud program requirement.
The forfeited $586 million is the source of all remission payments across Phases 1, 2, and 3. The fund continues to have money available, which is why Phase 3 was opened to capture victims in the extended 2017-to-2020 window.
Watch Out for Western Union Remission Scams
Ironically, the Western Union remission program itself is a target for scammers who try to victimize the same people twice. A few absolute rules:• The DOJ, FTC, and Verita Global will NEVER ask you to pay a fee to file or process your petition, claim, or payment. The program is 100% free for victims. Anyone asking for an "activation fee," "release fee," "tax payment," or any other money to deliver your remission payment is running a scam.
• Never share your bank account password, full credit card number, or other sensitive credentials with anyone claiming to handle your remission. Verita Global does not need this information to mail you a check or send you an electronic payment.
• Use the official Settlement Website only: westernunionremissionphase3.com. Type the URL directly into your browser. Be cautious of any email or text that links you to a "Western Union remission" page from a different domain.
• Be skeptical of unsolicited phone calls or emails promising to "expedite" your remission payment or "help you file your petition." Petitions are simple enough that most victims can file themselves online or by mail with no intermediary.
• If you receive a check, verify it through your bank before depositing or cashing. Legitimate checks will be drawn from a DOJ or Remission Administrator account.
What If My Scam Happened After March 9, 2020?
Unfortunately, Western Union scam transfers sent after March 9, 2020 are not eligible for the Phase 3 remission program. The DOJ determined March 9, 2020 as the cutoff for the extended Phase 3 window; transfers after that date fall outside the scope of the underlying $586 million forfeiture fund.If your scam happened after March 9, 2020, you should still report it to the Federal Trade Commission at reportfraud.ftc.gov and to your state attorney general's consumer protection office. Some states have their own consumer protection restitution funds. You may also be able to recover funds through your credit card company if you funded the Western Union transfer with a credit card, or through your bank if you funded it via ACH and can demonstrate fraud within their dispute window.
Other Active Consumer Restitution Programs
DOJ and FTC restitution programs run separately from class action settlements and have their own rules and timelines. Class membership in a class action does not affect eligibility for any DOJ remission program.Other related OCA coverage:
• OCA database of open class action settlements — complete list of active consumer cases
• Latest class action news and updates
Settlement Website: WesternUnionRemissionPhase3.com
File Petition for Remission — Deadline August 19, 2026
Frequently Asked Questions About the Western Union Remission
Who qualifies for the Phase 3 remission?
Anyone who sent a fraud-induced wire transfer through Western Union between January 1, 2004 and March 9, 2020 and did not previously receive full compensation in Phase 1 or Phase 2.
How much will I get?
The full principal amount of each verified Western Union fraud transfer you sent during the eligibility period. Collateral expenses (fees, incidental losses, transfers through other companies) are NOT recoverable.
Do I need to file a claim?
Yes. You must file a Petition for Remission online or by mail. The program does not pay victims automatically.
What is the deadline?
August 19, 2026 (postmarked or submitted online by this date).
Do I need to be a U.S. citizen?
No. The program is open to fraud victims globally; foreign currency transactions are eligible.
Do I need an attorney?
No. The petition is designed to be filed by victims directly. There is no fee for filing.
What if I filed in Phase 1 or 2 and was denied for being outside the time period?
Verita Global sent automatic grant letters on May 21, 2026 to previously-denied petitioners whose transactions fall in the new Phase 3 window. If you have not received such a letter by June 8, 2026, contact Verita Global through the official Settlement Website. If your transactions were after March 9, 2020, your denial stands.
What if my scam happened after March 9, 2020?
Unfortunately, those transfers are not eligible for this remission. Report the fraud to reportfraud.ftc.gov and your state attorney general's consumer protection office.
Sources
• Official Settlement Website: WesternUnionRemissionPhase3.com• United States v. The Western Union Company, Case No. 1:17-cr-00011-CCC, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania (Information filed January 19, 2017)
• FTC Stipulated Order Imposing Monetary Judgment and Anti-Fraud Provisions Against Western Union (Signed FTC Order, PDF)
• U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division — Remission Program Index
• FTC Press Release: Western Union Admits Anti-Money Laundering Violations and Settles Consumer Fraud Charges (January 19, 2017)
• Remission Administrator: Verita Global LLC (formerly Gilardi & Co. LLC)
• Federal Regulation Governing Process: Title 28 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 9
• Statutory Basis: Bank Secrecy Act, 31 U.S.C. §§ 5318(h), 5322; Wire Fraud, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343, 2
• FTC: How to Recognize and Report a Scam
• FTC Report Fraud Portal — for scams after March 9, 2020
About This Page
This page summarizes the Department of Justice's Phase 3 victim remission program arising from United States v. The Western Union Company, 1:17-cr-00011 (M.D. Pa.). OpenClassActions.com is a consumer news site and is not the Remission Administrator, the Department of Justice, or a law firm. We do not process petitions or decide remission payments. The official Settlement Website (westernunionremissionphase3.com) and the DOJ Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section are the authoritative sources for petition eligibility, allocation methods, and distribution timing. If you have questions about your specific petition, contact the Remission Administrator through the official Settlement Website. Information on this page is not legal advice.
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Forfeiture Fund
$586,000,000
Full loss recovery (100% of verified transfer); not pro rata
Case Title
United States v. The Western Union Company
Case Number
1:17-cr-00011-CCC
Court
U.S. District Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania
Petition Deadline
August 19, 2026
online or postmarked; $0 to file, no attorney required
Administrator
Verita Global LLC
Official Website
Western Union Remission Phase 3
