Losing money to a scam typically means you'll never get a dime back. But some scam victims are actually seeing checks in the mail now as part of a Federal Trade Communications settlement with Walmart.
Make no mistake, we're not talking about a full refund here for money lost to fraud when wire transfer services were used at Walmart to send cash to crooks. Many consumers will not come close to recovering even a quarter of the money they lost to fraudsters.
There was not enough money in the settlement fund to provide full refunds, according to the FTC.
The FTC is sending 65,022 checks totaling more than $9.8 million to eligible victims of scams who used the money transfer services at Walmart.
The median refund is $112 — meaning half the checks are
for more than that amount and half are for less than $112. The average refund would amount to around $150 each.
In many cases, consumers lost an average of $870 — including fees — when they sent money to fraudsters through these money transfer services at Walmart, based on earlier complaints made over the years by consumers.
Will Michigan consumers see money from the Walmart settlement?
The FTC told me that it is mailing that some 1,380 refund checks totaling nearly $205,000 to recipients in Michigan. The average check would be $148.55 each in Michigan.
Fraud victims who are eligible completed money transfers relating to scams at Walmart over a nearly 10-year period between January 2015 and December 2024. They must have sent or received more than $59 in eligible money transfers at Walmart during this timeframe.
Not all money transfers completed at Walmart are eligible for a payment. Consumers would not be eligible if they received refund money from another settlement involving money transfer services at Walmart.
Some consumers lost money to scams where fraudsters impersonated Internal Revenue Service agents or utility employees to scare the consumers into wiring money to pay bills. In other cases, consumers used money transfer services at Walmart as part of tech support scams, lottery scams, romance scams, grandparent scams and other types of fraud, according to the FTC.
If you're lucky enough to get a check, you should cash that check within 90 days, as indicated on the check.
What are the Walmart settlement checks about?
Federal Trade Commission issued a complaint against Walmart in 2022 charging that the retail powerhouse simply looked the other way as scammers directed consumers to use Walmart's in-store money transfer services. According to the FTC, U.S. consumers ended up being fleeced out of hundreds of millions of dollars along the way.
According to the FTC lawsuit, Walmart failed to properly train and oversee employees when it came to detecting and preventing consumer fraud involving money transfers at its stores.
Walmart employees, according to the FTC, did not appropriately warn consumers about potential scams, and did not reject and stop suspected fraud-induced money transfers. Walmart served as an agent for Western Union, MoneyGram and Ria Money Transfer.
According to the FTC lawsuit, MoneyGram’s, Ria’s, and Western Union’s records showed that Walmart had beenresponsible for a substantial amount of fraud-induced money transfers through their money transfer systems at various points in time.
More than 226,000 complaints were made between Jan. 1, 2013, and Dec. 31, 2018, about fraud-induced money transfers that were sent from or received at Walmart locations, based on information in MoneyGram’s, Ria’s, and Western Union’s databases, according to the FTC lawsuit.
The money lost, based on those complaints, totaled at least $197.3 million, including fees associated with the services, according to the FTC lawsuit.
The average individual consumer fraud loss reflected by those complaints, according to the FTC lawsuit, was about $870 from 2013 through 2018.
In June 2025, Walmart reached a settlement with the FTC agreeing to pay $10 million. The order prohibits the company from engaging in similar alleged conduct in the future. Among other requirements, Walmart must avoid sending or paying out any money transfer that it "knows, or consciously avoids knowing, is a fraud-induced money transfer."
In a statement issued in 2025, Walmart said it did not admit to any of the allegations in the lawsuit. Per terms of the agreement, Walmart said the FTC will dismiss the case with prejudice. In addition to the $10 million payment, Walmart said it will "continue its program of preventing fraud induced money transfers in its capacity as a money transfer services agent."
Walmart offers a variety of financial services at its Customer Service Desks and at its Money Centers, which are dedicated spaces for financial services.
Fraud victims who have questions about Walmart refund payment can contact the refund administrator, Rust Consulting Inc., at 833-472-1990, or visit the FTC website to view frequently asked questions about refund programs.See FTC.gov/walmart.
And, yes, you'll want to avoid potential scams along the way here, too. The FTC never requires people to pay money or provide account information to get a refund payment associated with any settlement agreement.
Contact personal finance columnist Susan Tompor: stompor@freepress.com. Follow her on X @tompor.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Why you might be getting a refund check from the FTC involving Walmart
