It appears to be that there's been a nationwide fraud on many people's checking accounts. Today (June 16), I loged onto my Wachovia online banking page to check my checking account balance, and noticed a check cleared on June 14 made out to "Intabill" with the amount of $99.75 processed by Bank of America written on June 11.
Right away, I start thinking this is definitely some kind of unauthorized fraudulent check because I have no memory of ever authorizing a payment to a company called "Intabill". There are other features of the check that tipped me off suggesting it is a fraudulent check besides me having no recollection of this amount. The check was printed by a computer printer or some sort. It resembles a refund check or a paycheck style. On the top of the check, it reads "There is a colored background... Blah blah blah... includes a water mark". There is no hand writing on it AT ALL! Not even the signature since there is no actual signature.
On the signature line it prints: "Signed: XXXXXXXXXX (my name)" and underneath the printed line, it reads "This payment has been authorized by your depositor" (yeah right! Total bs... Anyhow...). The check also has a very high check number (#30000), and I don't believe I will ever write a check to that number even till I die (it is just simply way too large). Although it does get my first name and last name right it does not have my right address. It only has a town that IS somewhat (like a 50-mile distance) close to my actual residence and has no address.
I have never lived in that town in my life. From this fact, I can very firmly believe it is a fraudulent check. Anyhow, the address of my bank, WACHOVIA BANK, is printed over some other text so it is not legible. On the memo line it reads "Monthly Sub - Jan-May". On the back of the check, the endorsement is a computer-printed two-line pharse: "For Deposits Only / line break / AC #24687-XXXXX" (I hid the last 5 digits to ensure anonymity).
From all these features I noticed on the check, I can positively conclude it is an unauthorized fake! Therefore, I took the next step. CALLING MY BANK RIGHT AWAY!
A real nice lady answered my call and filed a dispute for me with their fraudulent loss department and kindly gave me a tracking number and her name so I can have a reference. But unfortunately because it is a weekend, the loss department is not open, so I will have to wait till Monday to get more detail on what is going on.
Also, besides calling Wachovia, I also logged onto other online banking pages at other banks where I also have accounts. Fortunately, they were not hit with this fraudulent check.
After I've finished calling my bank, I decided to do some online research with google. I found many people actually been hit by this fraudulent check made payable to "Intabill". And there is also a company called "Intabill.com" based in Australia.
While some people have been accusing Intabill.com for fraudulently withdrawing money from people's checking accounts, there are also posts claiming Intabill.com's name has been "misused" by some other imposter trying to rip people off. However, I let my bank to decide if it IS an authentic draft from Intabill.com or it is just a fake checking using the name, Intabill.
I've also noticed some common points that people noticed on this fake check made out to "Intabill". For example, there are two common amounts, $100 and $99.75. The $100 ones are always made out on Feb 28 while the $99.75 ones are always written on Jun 11. On the $99.75 one, it always reads "Monthly Sub - Jan-May" on the memo line, and has the same check number of #30000. And they were all deposited at Band of America. This makes me wonder if there is some kind of insider working with the thief.
Lastly, the most important clue that someone else mentioned on their report (in my oppinion anyway), is that the victims (us) have signed up on GreenZap and gave GZ our bank account information at some point in time. I believe this is the common link, and GreenZap is definitely related to these incidents in some ways. I personally regret that I had ever signed up with GZ and gave them my bank acount info because last year they charged me a totally random fee of $17.95 and caused my bank to charge me a overdraft fee of $30. I did try to contact GZ and get a refund, however, the promised refund by GZ CS never came and now I'm hit with this fraudulent check incident.
It is concluded from my personal experience that GreenZap is definitely a trustworthy company. I DO NOT reccomment dealing with them in any way, shape, or form!
Just a side note, I noticed something in the rebuttal offered by the hopefully real Intabill.com people. The rebuttal points out that all fraudulent checks were deposited at a Bank of America branch, and it says that this branch is located in California. This rings a bell to me. Because GreenZap is also, supposedly, registered in California. This just makes me believe that GZ is extremely suspicious to be related to what has happened to me.
Life lesson learned today:
#1. Check your bank accounts as many times as possible. Make it a routine of your life. It'll just make your life easier.
#2. Don't sign up something that you have no knowledge of. Do some research first.
#3. Maybe the banks should be more careful at paying out a check. It can definitely cause your customer a lot of trouble, time, and work to correct this problem.
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