There is not much time left for Americans to get a refundwho paid scammers through Western Union.
In a settlement worth $586million, the wire service and the federal government decided to make full refunds to those affected.
A total of about $366 million has been reimbursed to over 148,000 victims to date.
Western Union customers were told to wire money to a relative or to claim a prize by scammers, according to a CBS News report.
It was not possible to recover the money once it had been sent.
A number of Western Union agents are reportedly working with scammers in order to receive some of the fraudulent funds.
More than 550,000 customer complaints were recorded by the Federal Trade Commission till date.
Over the past 11 years, scammers have earned billions of dollars in this scam..
"We acknowledge that the company did not exercise sufficient oversight in certain instances, mainly between 2004 and 2012." says the company's statement from 2017.
In response to the settlement, the Federal Trade Commission issued a statement.
Despite Western Union's responsibility to protect American consumers from fraud, the company turned a blind eye
and allowed scammers to take advantage of its system," said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez.
It also stated that those who haven't filed a claim yet are still eligible to receive funds.
Victims who were scammed between January 1, 2004, and January 19, 2017, are eligible to file claims.
There is still time for victims to file for a full refund before the end of August.