FTC Sends $9.8 Million in Refunds Over Walmart Money Transfers

The Federal Trade Commission is sending more than $9.8 million in refund checks to people affected by fraud involving Walmart’s money-transfer services. The October distribution covers 65,022 recipients.

The program concerns eligible transfers completed at Walmart between January 2015 and December 2024, according to the FTC’s refund page. Eligibility is tied to those money-transfer transactions, rather than ordinary shopping purchases.

The payments follow Walmart’s June 2025 settlement of FTC allegations that it failed to take adequate steps to stop scammers using its transfer services. The agency accused the company of insufficient employee training, customer warnings and fraud-prevention procedures.

Under the settlement, Walmart must take appropriate action to detect and prevent fraud-induced transfers, the FTC says. The refund distribution is the consumer-payment stage of that case.

What recipients should do

The FTC is distributing checks for this program. Check the payment’s stated deadline and cash it within the 90-day window; do not assume the timing is the same for every envelope that arrives.

For a question about a particular payment, the agency identifies Rust Consulting as the refund administrator. Its published number for this case is 1-833-472-1990.

A recipient concerned about authenticity can independently visit ftc.gov/refunds, select the Walmart case and compare the administrator and phone number with the payment notice. The FTC’s general refund guidance says legitimate notices include an explanation of the case.

That independent check is especially useful because Rust is a private administrator working on the agency’s behalf. The FTC regularly contracts with outside companies to manage payments; the company name alone does not make a notice suspicious.

A refund should not require an upfront payment

The agency warns that it never requires a fee or sensitive bank-account information to release a refund. A demand to transfer money first should be treated as a scam, not as a step in this payment process.

The total distribution also does not mean each recipient gets the same check. The Walmart notice gives the number of payments and total amount without publishing a uniform individual award.

The FTC’s broader guidance says refunds can be less than a person’s loss when available settlement funds are insufficient.

If a check has already expired or needs a name correction, contact Rust. The FTC says an expired payment may be reissued if settlement funds remain; a replacement is not guaranteed.

References: Walmart Refunds | FTC says Walmart allowed fraud involving money transfers | FTC Sends More than $9.8 Million to Consumers Harmed by Walmart’s Failure to Stop Scammers that Used its Wire Transfer Services to Take Millions from Customers | Refund Programs: Frequently Asked Questions