FTC Sues Walmart Over Money Transfer Services

The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday that it sued Walmart in a civil lawsuit over the retailer’s failure to protect customers using money transfer services at its stores from fraudsters. The fraud cost those customers hundreds of millions of dollars over years, the agency said.

Walmart “turned a blind eye while scammers took advantage of its failure to properly secure the money transfer services offered at Walmart stores,” the FTC said in a press release. The federal agency cited Walmart’s failure to properly train employees or warn customers. The juggernaut retailer also used procedures that aided the fraudsters, the agency said.

The agency is seeking civil penalties against Walmart for the violations and asking the court to order Walmart to return millions of dollars in fees it collected to its customers.