News

Scam targets Western Union ATMs

January 26, 2012

A scam artist has stolen thousands of dollars from Western Union ATMs at two Louisiana businesses, said a news account yesterday in the Lafourche Parish Daily Comet.

Posing as a Western Union employee, the thief contacts businesses with Western Union ATMs. He says he is performing a systems check of the store’s ATM and instructs the store employee to conduct five transactions, giving the employee codes to override fraud-warning requirements.

Using this process, the scammer has the employee transfer money to another account, the Lafourche Sheriff's Office said.

Sheriff Craig Webre encouraged businesses that have Western Union machines to educate employees about this scam and report such a phone call.

“Just like with other telephone scams where the criminal is calling you, you can always take down their information and contact the company directly to ensure the person calling is a legitimate employee, especially when they are asking for money to be transferred,” Webre said.