I was recently the victim of a very well thought out internet scam. The details of this scam go into great lengths and will not be discussed in this rip-off-report.
To make a long story short, I was to accept payments from U.S. Buyers and send the money via western union (minus a fee) to my "art dealer" acquaintance in London, England. My first thought was SCAM, SCAM, SCAM, but after verify the business as well the persons identity, I realized that this may be a legit offer.
The first payment I received was in the amount of $1700 via USPS postal money orders (2 for $850 each). I proceeded to my bank to verify that they were indeed authentic. I made the deposit on a Saturday and was told that they would need to be verified the following Monday BEFORE the money would EVEN be posted to my account.
I waited until Tuesday to go back to my bank to check on the status of the money orders, to see if they had cleared. I was assured by the bank that the money orders had cleared; hence the money was posted to my account, $1700 plus what little I had in there. That's when I made the withdraw; and proceeded with the western union transaction discussed with my acquaintance.
The following Thursday I ran into a problem at the gas station, my debit card was denied twice. I immediately went home to check the status of my account, via online banking.
To my DISMAY, I was charged back the $1700 dollars on Thursday, 3 BUSINESS days after the deposit. I don't know whether the money orders were canceled, or simply fraudulent.
This bank never called me, emailed me, or gave me any kind of warning about these money orders. They didn't even notify me of the chargeback. They say they tried to call me, but unlike my acquaintance, my caller id doesn't lie.
"I" had to call the bank, and I was told that they money orders didn't go through, I had indeed been scammed. My account was now in WAY in NEGATIVE.
Take into mind; I'm a college student barley making ends meet. I absolutely didn't have that kind of money in my account before this deposit.
I think that the bank is in the wrong in this situation. That kind of money should have NEVER been posted to my account without being absolutely VERIFIED.
After battling on the phone for hours I ended up talking to a very rude "loss prevention" lady. She stated that "In now way shape or form is the bank liable for that money, and that the loss was totally my fault."
Since my account was in the negative, she then tried to offer me a LOAN to bring my account back to zero, and said that if it was not brought current within 30 days that I would be taken to collections and my account canceled. Can you believe the nerve of this lady?
I've been banking with Fidelity for a long time, and even have my mortgage through them. This is very devious and I was treated so disrespectfully. This bank cares nothing about its customers. I was a victim twice over.
Do yourself a favor and steer clear of Fidelity of Kansas like you would a pile of horse dung. Warn your friends and family about there deceit. There are much better banks out there that actually care about there customers.
0 comments