Western Union wire transfers

There are a number of questions on paying for items sold in various forums.
In some cases mention is being made of payment being requested by the seller
using Western Union wire transfers. This method has been used extensively as
a scam to steal money from purchasers. Here is some recent information on
the security, or rather the lack of it, in making Western union wire
transfers to unknown parties:

http://www.auctionguild.com/generic.html;$sessionid$GV3JAIYAAAZNVTZENUEXBMWPERWRJPX0?pid=65

UPDATE 9 JUN 2003: IF YOU USE A WESTERN UNION WIRE TRANSFER TO PAY FOR A
PURCHASE ONLINE, YOU WILL HAVE YOUR MONEY STOLEN AND WILL NEVER SEE YOUR
ITEM OR YOUR MONEY AGAIN. THERE IS NO WAY TO SECURE A WESTERN UNION WIRE
TRANSFER AND NO WAY TO RECOVER YOUR MONEY. PLEASE DO NOT FALL FOR THIS SCAM
AND DO NOT LET YOUR ASSOCIATES, FRIENDS OR FAMILY FALL FOR THIS SCAM.

TAG has been receiving emails revealing a new twist on the old WU wire
transfer scam. The seller will tell you that he can insure your safety if
you send the money to them but only provide the control number and use a
fictitious ID. Once you get the item you purchased, you can then give the
seller/scammer the correct name. One seller/scammer said you could have a
secret question and answer, and the money would only be released to the
person having the secret Q&A. This is NOT TRUE!!! All the seller/scammer
needs is the control number to get the money. UPDATE 9 JUN 2003: We have now
heard that the seller/scammer does not even need the control number to get
your money - all they need to know is that the money is coming and they will
get it.

TAG talked to Western Union today, and WU said there is absolutely no truth
to the claim that either of these methods will protect the buyer. WU said
that none of the buyers are receiving their merchandise when the item was
paid for using a wire transfer, and to tell our readers DON'T DO IT!!! If WU
itself is saying not to use their wire transfer service to purchase items,
TAG hopes buyers will use some common sense and NOT use WU wire transfers to
buy items!!! If a seller requires a wire transfer to buy an item,
particularly for an overseas purchase IT IS A SCAM!!!!! DON'T DO IT!!!

PLEASE pass this information on to everyone you know who is buying or
thinking about buying online. Save your friends and family thousands of
dollars. Feel free to send them to this web page to check the veracity of
the information. This is one time when one of those mass emailings to
everyone in your email address book might actually do some good. Make sure
you provide a link (above) to this website so they can verify the
information and know it is not another hoax email.

Hope the readers here find this of interest.

Journalist