Last December I replied to an ad to do a mailing for X-cell Energy from Amarillo, Tx. I received the inserts, labels, and envelopes in January, and completed the mailing of 1005 on Feb. 2. I faxed a statement to 303-628-2644 that day. On Mar. 5 I received a check in the amount of $1,482.91 from Southwest Public Service Co. My bank told me to take the check to a Wells Fargo bank and cash it, then deposit the cash. Since I don't bank with Wells Fargo and did not know where one was located, I put the check in my car. On May 5 I happened to pass a Wells Fargo bank and decided I would go ahead and cash the check. I attempted to do so and was advised that I should open an account with them, so I decided I would. After spending an hour with a teller and giving my identification to her twice, I was arrested by the local police and taken to jail as a common criminal. My car was impounded and searched. All items in my car were taken—the boxes from X-cell Energy, the remaining flyers, and other enclosures—along with the check in the amount of $1482.91. I was embarrassed, humiliated, and shocked. I spent the night in jail, and was released the next morning when the judge dismissed the charges of fraud against me. The amount of $1767.91 is the total amount this has cost me, in addition to the fact that I had honestly performed the work I had contracted to do.
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