Walmart will pay $10 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it turned a blind eye to scammers who used its in-store money transfer services to take hundreds of millions of dollars from U.S. consumers.

“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,” said Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Companies that provide these services must train their employees to comply with the law and work to protect consumers.”

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 consumers out of hundreds of millions of dollars. Walmart failed to implement effective anti-fraud policies and procedures, did not properly train its employees, and failed to warn customers about potential fraud related to money transfers, according to the complaint. In June 2023, the FTC filed an amended complaint adding further details related to the company’s alleged telemarketing violations. In July 2024, the district court dismissed the Commission’s Telemarketing Sales Rule claim for the second time, presenting a significant hurdle for the Commission to obtain monetary relief for consumers in the litigation. In November 2024, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals granted Walmart permission to appeal certain rulings by the district court.

The stipulated order announced today resolves the FTC’s case against Walmart and is intended to ensure the company does not engage in similar alleged conduct in the future. In addition to imposing the $10 million judgment, the order 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 Commission vote approving the stipulated final order was 3-0. The FTC filed the proposed order in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.

NOTE: Stipulated final orders or injunctions have the force of law when approved and signed by the District Court judge.