The Justice Department has opened the third and final round of its Western Union remission program, and anyone who wired money to a scammer through the company between Jan. 1, 2004 and March 9, 2020 has until Dec. 31, 2026 to file a petition. The department’s Oct. 7 announcement says another $3.4 million is going to 1,294 victims in this phase, drawn from the $586 million Western Union agreed to forfeit.
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The people this reaches are the ones who sent a Western Union transfer to a fraudster during those sixteen years and have not yet been repaid, plus earlier petitioners who sent additional transfers the first two rounds did not cover. Each of them now faces the same question: which wires count, what proof the administrator wants, and whether the paperwork reaches the Los Angeles post office box or the online portal before the last day of the year.
A Western Union remission petition turns on one cutoff, Dec. 31, 2026, and on records of wires sent as far back as 2004. The Settlement & Refund Recovery System includes a step-by-step filing walkthrough and the four-date rule for reading a settlement notice, so the cutoff is not confused with the other dates in the paperwork.
Get the Western Union petition filing walkthrough in the Settlement & Refund Recovery System →
How $586 million became a three-round payout
The money traces to January 2017, when Western Union admitted to anti-money-laundering and consumer-fraud violations. In its 2017 announcement, the Justice Department said the agreement "ensures that $586 million will be available to compensate the many victims of these frauds," and called it the largest forfeiture ever imposed on a money services business.
That forfeiture has been paid out in stages ever since. According to the Oct. 7 release, the department previously distributed over $436.9 million to more than 180,000 victims. The newest announcement describes the work as the third and final phase. "The Department is pleased to announce the third and final phase of the Western Union remission process," said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Criminal Division.
The Federal Trade Commission ran its own, earlier refund program from the same settlement money. Its refund page describes eligible transfers as those sent between Jan. 1, 2004 and Jan. 19, 2017. The third phase reaches further, to March 9, 2020, which means wires sent in the three years after the FTC’s cutoff can now be the subject of a petition.
What the 1,294 new payments amount to
The department put the phase-three payment at $3.4 million for 1,294 victims. Divided evenly, that is roughly $2,600 per person, though the release does not say payments were equal, and individual amounts depend on each person’s verified losses. Inspector in Charge Christopher Nielsen of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Philadelphia Division spoke about the distribution and the department’s victim portal in the announcement.
The administrator’s site makes a point worth noting for anyone weighing whether to bother: earlier phases, it says, left recipients with full compensation for their losses. A remission petition is a request to be repaid what was lost on verified transactions, not a share of a pool divided by headcount.
Earlier petitioners and the May 21 letter
People who already petitioned in an earlier round are not necessarily done. The administrator’s site says that a petitioner who received a letter dated May 21, 2026 was told the petition "was granted as to the verified transactions." For transfers the earlier petition did not cover, the site says a new Petition for Remission form is required.
That detail matters because the covered period grew. According to the administrator’s site, the window used to run from Jan. 1, 2004 through Jan. 19, 2017; it now ends March 9, 2020, so a wire sent in 2018 or 2019 can be included for the first time.
Where to file, and which date to trust
The administrator, Verita Global LLC, takes petitions online through the File Claim link on the remission site or by mail to United States v. The Western Union Company Phase 3, PO Box 301132, Los Angeles, CA 90030-1132. The Justice Department’s phone line for the program is 1-833-419-4677. The site asks petitioners to include any available supporting documentation with the form.
One wrinkle on that site: its August 5 update says the deadline "has now been extended to December 31, 2026," but text further down the page still refers to an Aug. 19 postmark date from before the extension. The Justice Department’s Oct. 7 release, issued after the extension, gives the cutoff as Dec. 31. Petitioners should work to the December date and not wait on anything the Aug. 19 language implies.
The department also repeats a warning that applies to every remission program: neither the remission administrator nor the Justice Department will ask for any payment to take part. Anyone who is asked to pay a fee, or to hand over bank details to a caller claiming to represent the program, is dealing with someone else.
Filing a Western Union petition before Dec. 31
The first job is to establish which transfers fall inside the Jan. 1, 2004 to March 9, 2020 window. Receipts, bank or card statements showing the payment to Western Union, the money transfer control numbers, and any messages from the scammer all help show a wire went to a fraud and not an ordinary payment. The Justice Department’s announcement points petitioners to the remission site for the form and instructions.
Records from a decade or more ago are often gone, and the administrator asks only for whatever supporting documentation is available. A petitioner who cannot find a receipt can still list the date, amount and location of each transfer from memory and from account statements, and note what could not be found.
A petition mailed near the end of the year should be sent with tracking so a postmark can be shown. Anyone who petitioned earlier should keep the May 21 letter, and anyone helping a relative with a past scam can check that relative’s old statements for payments to Western Union.
Dec. 31 is one cutoff among many open ones
A person who sent a wire to a fraudster often has other open claims running at the same time, each with its own deadline, and the remission petition goes straight to the administrator. MoneyPilot lists open class-action settlements and shows which ones may match you. It files claim forms for you and tracks deadlines and payout status. MoneyPilot is a paid subscription service.
Track open class-action settlement deadlines with MoneyPilot →
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by The Financial Wire’s editorial team.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
