When I checked my banking account this morning (Saturday, June 13th) I discovered my account had been over drafted. However, I immediately knew there was a major issue because I monitor my bank account like a hawk and would never allow my account to over draft on my behalf. I quickly discovered an unauthorized charge in the amount of $425.80 in the form of an E-Check from a company by the name of Epassporte. Two days prior I had seen (2) other transactions on my account that I questioned but payed little attention to.in regards to those (2) transactions, the same company, Epassporte had deposited (2) separate, very small transactions between 10-20 cents into my account (a ridiculous figure because who ever makes such an insignificant deposit?). At the time, I figured maybe it was some sort of a refund from something my wife had done and took no action. However, I should have recognized that this was actually an attempt to make sure that my account was open and that future transactions would go through. Looking back now, I wished I had payed more attention to those (2) transactions that seemed insignificant when I first saw them.
I had never even heard of Epassporte until today, nor have I ever done any kind of business with this company or authorized my account to be accessed by anyone, including this company in any way. I contacted the phone number listed on the E-check to inquire about the fraudulent charge. I'm not sure where this company is based out of or where the companies call center is located but I reached someone who was obviously from another country (India?). I could barely understand what the customer service representative was saying, not to mention how the connection was horrible, which made the situation that much more aggravating. I could not communicate with their customer service representative in a proper fashion.By the end of my call I really had little idea of what they were doing about the situation other than I was told they would block the account from further activity and I was given a reference number. Supposedly someone from Epassporte will be calling me but I have no idea when or what else needs to be done on that end. I am hoping my bank is more helpful with the situation. I went to the bank as soon as they opened this morning and filed an affidavit with them so the investigation can begin. I have placed alerts with the credit bureaus. I have also been researching my options with the FBI's IC3 department and the FTC. Given my law enforcement background I know that it can be difficult to find those who commit these cowardly crimes but rest assure I know what strings to pull and plan on pulling them. Hopefully through the investigation, proof can be provided that this was a fraudulent charge and I can regain my hard earned funds. With any luck, the perpetrator will be caught and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I suppose only time will tell the outcome.
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