Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Only use Western Union to send money to friends and family. Never send money to someone you have not met in person. Scammers sometimes encourage people to transfer money. Do not transfer money to anyone who asks you to send them money:

• For an emergency situation you haven’t confirmed.
• For an online purchase.
• For anti-virus protection.
• For a deposit or payment on a rental property.
• To claim lottery or prize winnings.
• To pay taxes.
• For a donation to charity.
• For a mystery shopping asignment.
• For a job opportunity.
• For a credit card or loan fee.
• To resolve an immigration matter.

If you transfer money, the person you’re sending it to gets the money quickly. After the money is paid, Western Union may not be able to give you a refund, even if you are the victim of fraud, except under limited circumstances.

If you receive an email from anyone claiming to be from Western Union and you are unsure about it, do not click on any links in the mail. This may be a “phishing” attempt to acquire sensitive information from you. Instead, immediately forward the suspicious mail to your Bank’s Customer Care email Western Union will never send you e-mails to ask for your user ID, password, or credit card details.

In some countries, senders are asked to provide a ‘Test Question’ and its answer, when they initiate the transfer. In cases where a ‘Test Question’ was provided by the sender, the receiver may be required to answer it, when picking up the funds. The ‘Test Question’ feature is designed for emergency situations, where the receiver still needs to provide proper identification. It should never be used as additional security or to delay payment. In many places, we’ll pay the receiver whenever the receiver shows proper identification, even if he or she does not know the answer to the question. Test question is not available for payout in Kenya.

You should contact the Western Union Fraud Hotline at 254 2038 93719 immediately for assistance with a transfer that you believe was sent for fraud. You may also reach out to local police. Contact your government’s Office of Consumer Affairs if you are uncertain or suspicious of a telephone, mail or email solicitation.

• Always make sure you know who you are sending money to.
• Discontinue a call if a caller coaches you to respond to questions asked by Western Union.
• Security is everyone’s responsibility. Stay informed. Keep abreast of new fraud trends.
• Remember, if it seems too-good-to-be-true, it probably is.

To protect our customers, we review every money transfer to make sure it’s safe. For a variety of reasons, we may ask you to provide us with more information before we can allow you to continue using our services.

We need additional information to understand why you use Western Union and the relationship between you and the person or entities you’re transacting with. The more information you provide, the quicker we’ll be able to complete your request.

To have access to our services again, follow the steps below:

1. Gather the required documents. Please note that these will vary depending on your reason for using Western Union and your relationship to the person or entities you’re transacting with. At minimum you must be prepared with your government-issued photo ID, documents that relate to your purpose for using Western Union, proof of the source of the funds, and any additional documents that may provide support for the answers provided on the questionnaire. For more information, go to Help section at westernunion.com.
2. Go to westernunion.com/gcr and start the customer questionnaire.
3. Complete the customer questionnaire:

• Personal information:
  – Provide your first, middle (optional) and last names as they appear on your ID.
  – Share your current email, physical address and mobile number. Please make sure you provide an active email address for communication purposes.
  – Specify your country of birth.
  – Select your occupation and provide additional clarification if needed.
  – Enter a recent tracking number (MTCN) if available.
  – Upload a copy of your valid government-issued photo ID.
• Relationships:
  – List people or entities you’ve transacted with using Western Union.
  – For each person or entity, enter the full name, relationship, purpose of transaction and upload supporting documents.
• Source of funds:
  – Choose the source of funds from the drop-down list and upload supporting documents.
• Third party details (if you are transacting on behalf of someone else) (if applicable):
  – Explain the purpose of transaction(s) and your relationship to the third party.
  – Provide the details related to the third party.
• Fraud (if applicable):
  – Indicate if you’ve been a victim of fraud or scam.
  – If yes, share a brief description of what happened.

4. Review the accuracy of the information you provided.
5. Select Submit questionnaire to complete the process.

a. Valid government-issued photo ID is needed to verify your identity.

• Examples: passport, driver’s license, national ID.

b. Source of funds is needed to make sure that the money transfers are not related to illegal acts and correspond to the nature of your activity.

• Examples: at least the latest 3 months of bank statements, at least the latest 3 months of pay slips, employment contract with salary, loan papers, sale agreement, winning receipt, tax return statement, etc.

c. Purpose of money transfer or intended use of money is needed to understand the basis for making the payment and the type of relations between the sender and the payee.

• Examples:
  • Personal remittance/family support – the following documents are suitable to prove relationship: pictures with persons you transacted with, marriage certificate, counterparty’s birth certificate, counterparty’s government issued ID, etc.
  • Business remittance/payment for goods/services – bills, receipts, sale or purchase agreements, etc.
  • Education – evidence of tuition fees, etc.
  • Medical expenses – hospital bills, pharmacy receipts, health insurance premiums, etc.
  • Charity support – written acknowledgment from the charity, etc.
  • Purchase home – purchase agreement, mortgage documents, etc.
  • Gift – receipts, etc.
  • Travel expenses – travel tickets, hotel bookings, etc.

d. Third party activity (sending or receiving money on behalf of individual or business) information is needed to understand the purpose and nature of your relationship with Western Union.

• Examples: business registration documents, letter of authorization by the company or notary, bank statement showing access to third party funds, etc.

After we’ve received your completed questionnaire and required documentation, we’ll email you a response within 3 business days.

In case we have additional questions, we may contact you via the email address provided in the questionnaire.

We’re committed to the security of your personal information. We use organizational, technical and administrative safeguards that comply with applicable government laws and regulations to secure your personal information. We also restrict access to the personal information that we process to only our employees, agents and representatives that have a business need to know it. For more information, read our Terms and Conditions and Online Privacy Statement.