The person that picks the Western Union up in NY is probably not the same person that is initiating the scam, and the original scammer is most likely a Nigerian. What the Nigerians do is spam job message boards with fake job offers for "collecting payments" for some type of business. When the person responds the Nigerian tells them the job is to pick up payments at Western Unions and Moneygrams and forward them to Nigeria, and they get to keep 10%. That puts a buffer between the Nigerian and the crime, and doesn't arouse the sellers suspicions because he thinks he is dealing with someone in the US.
When the shit hits the fan the person that picked up the Western Union has to do the explaining, and the Nigerian not only keeps the money but possibly the product being sold, too...
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