Northern Territory Police are urging people who were victims of money transfer scams through Western Union to apply for a refund.

It comes after Western Union admitted to anti-money laundering and consumer fraud violations and agreed to forfeit $586 million (USD) to the US Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission.

The money will be used to compensate people who wired money to scammers through the banking service between 1 January 2004 and 19 January 2017.

The Drug and Organised Crime Division’s Senior Sergeant Craig Windebank says the Cybercrime Unit will speak to some victims to urge them to apply for a refund.

“We will be contacting victims of scams to let them know about the outcome of the court case in the United States,” Senior Sergeant Windebank said.

“Some of the more high profile cases include international fraudsters targeting people in remote Indigenous communities as part of a sophisticated money mule scam.

“In 2015, puppy scam con artists claiming to be from the Northern Territory targeted several people from interstate and convinced them to transfer thousands of dollars using Western Union,” he said.

“We would urge anyone who has been the victim of a scam involving Western Union to report the matter to police.”

People who lost money to scammers using Western Union have until 12 February 2018 to apply for remission through the Western Union website. More information can be found at Scamwatch: https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/news/victims-scammed-via-western-union-may-get-refund