About two months ago, I received a letter from these guys telling me I wrote two checks that bounced, and I could avoid prosecution with a simple payment of $623. I immediately saw something was fishy, as the letter looked very unofficial and used bold type to highlight words like 'check fraud' and 'heavy fines'. Still, I called them the next day to alert them of their mistake, but they told me I had written two checks in December of 1999 to a company I have never heard of in an area of the world I have never been (Puerto Rico). What is even more outlandish is that in 1999 I was 16 years old, and had just opened my first checking account. Still to be thorough, I contacted my bank at that time and asked if I had bounced any checks in December 1999.interestingly enough, they told me that they destroy records every 7 years and those records would be expensive to dig up. I told the banker my situation and he informed me that these guys are full of it. Apparently, there are very strict rules banks and merchants must follow if a check is bounced. For instance, the customer must be notified within X number of days. On the advice of a co-worker, I forwarded the letter to the Attorney General's office, which promptly shuffled me around to the NYC office of the AG. I recently received a second, more threatening letter. At this point I would love nothing more then for the AG or Manhattan DA's office to nail these guys. They are praying on peoples fears and use tough guy tactics to intimidate people.
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