I've never dealt with Western Union so I don't know, but rather than waiting for photo ID, if you cannot verify that the payer is the one intending to receive e-gold for the payment made, is there a way to reverse the Western Union payment back to the payer, or simply to do as much of a refund as possible? [I've just come back to re-editing this message, and since I originally drafted this paragraph, you have indicated that you would do this, but Geronia Bowman's responses seem to indicate that she (or he) will not get her money back this way.)
This way Western Union should be aware that neither you nor the e-gold community in general is trying to rip off a little old lady or whatever, nor acting fraudulently in any way. Additionally, whether or not there is a Geronia Bowman, or whether the address and phone number is fake should not matter, because the original payer should be able to receive cash back in exchange for the original payment receipt.
This (reversal) seems like an action of last resort, because conceivably the payer might have lost the receipt and it seems a bad idea to expand the coffers of Western Union for no good reason. If this not possible what will you do with the money considering the possibility that the actual payer may have simply invented a name and address for the convenience of anonymity? Either they are the proceeds of some kind of fraudulent activity (on the customer's part) or they are funds that should have every effort made to be exchanged for that which they were sent to you in the first place, or at least returned to sender.
Although it can be established that the entity with whom you have been dealing has used various names to obscure identity, I do not think that we have established fraud beyond reasonable doubt, and the principle of a presumption of innocence surely by rights extends to individuals conducting business, not only to the State criminal justice system.
Although most of us have a high opinion of our peers in this list, somehow I think that it is objectionable to contemplate exchange providers collecting various people's personal, private and confidential identification documents, which could be put to malicious use if such thoughts were to entertain their minds. Furthermore, as Latiko bank has done to Graham, so might an unscrupulous exchange provider do to any customer.
I support the effort to ensure that SOMEONE is not defrauded, but let us not trample the rights of WHOEVER if SOMEONE has not been so defrauded.
Ian Green
http://iangreen.2cw.org/
http://ao.com.au/e-gold.htm
At 01:29 PM 29/11/2002 +0100, Patrick at AnyGoldNow wrote:
Hakeem, (or should I call you Geronia ???) Let's have some fun on this one :According to our Disclaimer page
<SNIP>
«Customer Protection In order to protect our customers' interests, their Gold Accounts, and funds, AnyGoldNow may investigate any trade that might be suspicious or questionable. In such cases, customers may be asked to provide picture ID and/or other pertinent information, in order to prove that they are indeed legitimate customers. Should proper information or documentation not be supplied to its satisfaction, AnyGoldNow reserves the right to refuse service and not process orders»
<SNIP>
1) Your order came to us as supposedly coming from : Geronia Bowman Address : 3148 Wilder Ave, Saratosa, Florida, 34232 email address : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone : 941-371.7197 (Which is not you, nor anybody knowing anything about AnyGoldNow, Western Union or even e-gold)
<SNIP>
- You wanted to fund e-gold account number 666996, Account Name : «My e-gold account» - You claimed to have sent US$ 1,460 (In fact, Western union Credited us with 1,401.2 Euros) In the "Memo" of your order, you mentioned :«Please e-mail me at every step, I am counting on a longlasting friendship and business relations. Merci beaucoup»
<SNIP>
So, "Geronia" (or is it Hakeem, or maybe still somebody else ?!?), this is where we are at this point. May the list be aware of the fact that we are still awaiting satisfactory documentation for us to proceed (or not) with your order, as described all over our web site Patrick, AnyGoldNow
--- You are currently subscribed to e-gold-list as: archive@jab.org To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Use e-gold's Secure Randomized Keyboard (SRK) when accessing your e-gold account(s) via the web and shopping cart interfaces to help thwart keystroke loggers and common viruses.
