The Federal Trade Commission is sending 65,022 checks to people who lost money through Walmart money transfers, and the payments total more than $9.8 million. The FTC announced the mailing on October 15, and Rust Consulting Inc. is the refund administrator handling questions.

The agency says the checks should be cashed within 90 days, and it is already warning that scammers tend to follow real refunds. A check that arrives in the mail is the real thing only if it matches what the FTC has described.

Who is getting a Walmart money-transfer check?

The FTC refund page says the payments go to people who made eligible money transfers at Walmart between January 2015 and December 2024. This is about people who sent money through Walmart’s wire transfer services and were defrauded, not about people who simply shop at Walmart.

The FTC says in its release that Walmart failed to stop scammers who used its money transfer services. Walmart settled the charges with the agency in June 2025 and agreed to take steps to detect and prevent fraud-induced money transfers.

According to the FTC, Walmart did not put effective anti-fraud policies in place, did not properly train its employees, and did not warn customers about money transfer fraud. Under the settlement, the company must now take steps to detect and prevent transfers that scammers induce.

The count of 65,022 is a count of checks, and the total is “more than $9.8 million,” so the FTC has not published a single per-check amount. Each check shows its own amount.

Is the check in the mailbox real?

A person who sent money through a Walmart transfer during those years and then finds an FTC refund check in the mail has two things to confirm. First, whether the transfer fits the January 2015 to December 2024 window. Second, whether the check carries a date, because the 90 days run from the date printed on it, and the FTC has not published a mailing calendar.

The agency’s own instruction is that “recipients should cash their checks within 90 days, as indicated on the check.” For a real check, nothing else is required. The FTC says it never asks anyone to pay anything first.

Anyone who is unsure about a check can lay it next to what the FTC has published. The agency lists 65,022 checks, a total above $9.8 million, a 90-day window and one administrator phone number. A check or letter that adds a different phone number, a website asking for a bank login, or a demand for a processing fee does not match any of that.

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Families helping an older relative with the mail can use the same test. If the envelope looks like a government refund but asks for a payment, a Social Security number or account details before the check can be used, it should be set aside and checked against the FTC’s own refund page instead.

What does Rust Consulting do?

The FTC names Rust Consulting Inc. as the refund administrator for this program. Anyone with a question about a check can call Rust at 1-833-472-1990. The FTC also keeps a general list of questions and answers on its refund programs, linked from the same release.

The FTC’s pages name Rust only as the administrator to call, and they do not describe any other role for the company. A caller who says they represent the refund and asks for anything beyond what is on the check is not following the process the FTC has described.

What does the FTC say about fees and wiring money?

The FTC release states plainly: “The Commission never requires people to pay money or provide account information to get a payment.” The agency adds that it will never demand money, make threats, tell people to transfer money, or promise a prize.

That matters because the people in this group already lost money to a scam that used a wire transfer. They are the very people a second scammer would target, with a call or text saying a fee must be paid or a transfer sent to release the refund. The FTC’s refund page links to its consumer guidance, “What To Know Before You Wire Money.”

No real refund process asks for money to deliver money the FTC has already mailed. A caller or text demanding a fee, a gift card or a wire is not part of this program, and the FTC says any such request is a scam.

What if the check is for a transfer that was never made?

Some recipients may open an envelope and not recognize the transfer. The FTC has not said how it handles that, and its pages give Rust Consulting’s number as the place for questions. Calling the number printed on the FTC’s own page, not one given by a stranger, is the safe route.

The open question for many in this group is what to do if a payment request has already come in: a call, a text, or an envelope that asks for money back. The FTC’s answer is that the agency never requires payment, so anyone who has already sent money to someone claiming to speak for this refund has a recovery problem to deal with quickly.

Already asked to pay or wire money for this refund?

The FTC says it never requires payment or a transfer to get a refund, so any request to send money after a Walmart check arrives is a second scam. Money sent to that second scammer can be hard to pull back once the hours pass.

The Senior Fraud Defense & First-Hour Recovery Kit includes the first-hour recovery plan, a fraud evidence and report log, and the free credit-freeze steps. It lays out what to do in the first hour after sending money to a scammer, and where to keep the evidence for every report.

Get the first-hour checklist for a fake Walmart refund request →

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.