A HORRIBLE thing happened...HELP!!!

[msudawgs30]

I just realized (1 WEEK FROM OUR LEAVING DATE!!!) that I must have dropped one of my checks made out to pay a bill with, since I never made it to the store with it. Someone idiot picked it up and cashed it. Thank God I filled out the amount and who it was to. My bank said that once I verified that the sig on the back is not valid, I would have the funds put back into the bank on the grounds of forgery. This is the least of my worries! There's no time to close down my account and re-route hubby's paycheck from being directly deposited into my account. If the SOB that took my check has half a brain he can figure out how to order more (with his address on them) or purchase online unsing the numbers at the bottom.

HELP!!! WHAT CAN I DO?????????

 

[lclark0621]

In order to purchase them online he should need a pin code or something, not just your account number. Think about the hundreds of people who see you checking account number daily. Any number of them could just order checks.

That is why the bank has some secuirty in place.

When calling my bank they ask for pin code or social security & a whole list of other "secuirty questions" before they will even talk to me about my account.

Are you going on a trip and expecting one of your DH's checks to hit while on vacation? If not, close the account & set up a new one.

Call your bank & confirm there are some security in place before you can order checks, get access to the account, etc.

 

[weregoingtodw]

When will your DH get paid? If it's before you leave, I'd go in and immediately transfer all that to another account. Better yet, let his office know what's going on and ask if he can get a real check cut for one cycle.

 

[Ozymoe]

I just realized (1 WEEK FROM OUR LEAVING DATE!!!) that I must have dropped one of my checks made out to pay a bill with, since I never made it to the store with it. Someone idiot picked it up and cashed it. Thank God I filled out the amount and who it was to. My bank said that once I verified that the sig on the back is not valid, I would have the funds put back into the bank on the grounds of forgery. This is the least of my worries! There's no time to close down my account and re-route hubby's paycheck from being directly deposited into my account. If the SOB that took my check has half a brain he can figure out how to order more (with his address on them) or purchase online unsing the numbers at the bottom.

HELP!!! WHAT CAN I DO?????????

I'm confused...how could someone cash a check made out to pay a bill? Didn't you make it out to the company or utility?...or do you mean you just signed the check and left the "pay to" line blank?

 

[weregoingtodw]

I'm confused...how could someone cash a check made out to pay a bill? Didn't you make it out to the company or utility?...or do you mean you just signed the check and left the "pay to" line blank?

We had a HUGE scam here recently, where there were several people going around to mailboxes that had their flags up, signaling outgoing mail, and stealing the mail. They then used some special process to erase the ink, and changed the checks to be made out to another false name. They were busted, fortunately. Their biggest heist came on a holiday weekend, when quite a few people left mail in their boxes but the mail didn't run that Monday.

 

[jlcbshaw]

I have been in law enforcement for 10 years and I now work for a company as a loss prevention officer and it is my suggestion to you that you close the account ASAP. Even if they do not order checks there are computer programs out there where they can print their own checks. If they have your routing number and checking account number, it is very easy for them to print bogus checks and use them at places like Wal-Mart and other stores.

I say this not to scare you, but if it were my account I would have already closed the account. What is the possibility of having your current bank open the new account and note to transfer your husbands check into that account until you have it changed with his employer? Good luck.

 

[cbrfan]

I have been in law enforcement for 10 years and I now work for a company as a loss prevention officer and it is my suggestion to you that you close the account ASAP. Even if they do not order checks there are computer programs out there where they can print their own checks. If they have your routing number and checking account number, it is very easy for them to print bogus checks and use them at places like Wal-Mart and other stores.

I say this not to scare you, but if it were my account I would have already closed the account. What is the possibility of having your current bank open the new account and note to transfer your husbands check into that account until you have it changed with his employer? Good luck.

I used to work at a credit union and yes, this is possible. Actually, it's exactly what we did when someone came in with a problem like this. The direct deposit doesn't process into the old account so it has to be dealt with manually. We just processed it manually once it was rejected by the computer. You sure don't want to leave that account account open. Make sure the bank flags your new account to be extra careful.

 

[msudawgs30]

I have been in law enforcement for 10 years and I now work for a company as a loss prevention officer and it is my suggestion to you that you close the account ASAP. Even if they do not order checks there are computer programs out there where they can print their own checks. If they have your routing number and checking account number, it is very easy for them to print bogus checks and use them at places like Wal-Mart and other stores.

I say this not to scare you, but if it were my account I would have already closed the account. What is the possibility of having your current bank open the new account and note to transfer your husbands check into that account until you have it changed with his employer? Good luck.

I am closing it in the AM!!! My DH's paycheck is supposed to be direct deposited the morning that we leave. I am going to see if I can get an emergency stop put on it until we can get it set up in the new account.

I know what you're saying about the routing number, because I pay several bills online and use my bottom numbers and they NEVER ask for any SS# or address to verify

I just pray that the person leaves it at this and doesn't attempt anything else.

Yes, I did make it out to the business that it was intended to go to, but it's a mom & pop business and could very well be signed and cashed rather than stamped with "for deposit only".

I am going to be calling that info line from my bank several times throughout the night to make sure the funds aren't messed with until tomorrow.

Keep your fingers crossed for me .

 

[my3kids]

What do you do about all the outstanding checks if you close the account?

 

[msudawgs30]

What do you do about all the outstanding checks if you close the account?

I'm going ot leave enough money in the account to cover what is outstanding and give them a list of what's outstanding and if it isn't on the list IT'S ATTEMPTED THEFT!!! Surely they can help do this don't you think?

 

[weregoingtodw]

I'm going ot leave enough money in the account to cover what is outstanding and give them a list of what's outstanding and if it isn't on the list IT'S ATTEMPTED THEFT!!! Surely they can help do this don't you think?

They deal with this on a daily basis, seriously. In fact, I believe you have to let them know and close your account within a certain amount of time in order for them to NOT hold you liable. Most banks and credit cards have a 24 hour number you can call if you've had something like this happen.

 

[Jazzysmom]

I work at a bank, and I would suggest that you have them close the account for you and get everything transferred. They should be able to do that for you with minimal problems and you would definately have a piece of mind knowing that no one could use your account number. There are definately tons of scams going on now days, we are always on the lookout. Fortunately we live in a relatively small area and know most of our customers, but there are always those that make you go hmmm....

Best of luck to you, I hope they get it cleared up asap!!

 

[TPCShauna]

Someone stole my checkbook several years ago. We closed the old account, opened a new one and gave the bank a list of outstanding checks. They watched for the checks on the list and cashed them against the new account. Fortunately, no one tried any funny business but the bank still did everything they could to help us minimize issues on our account.

They also moved a direct deposit that was going into the old account directly into the new account. We told them when it was coming and they took care of everything.

This was all done at Wells Fargo which I think is a pretty rotten, non-customer service oriented bank (please don't flame me - JMHO ) and they did all this pretty much automatically so you should be fine with your bank and account.

Good luck. I'm sorry this is happening to you when you should just be filled with happy anticipation for your wonderful trip to WDW. Good luck!!

 

[msudawgs30]

Someone stole my checkbook several years ago. We closed the old account, opened a new one and gave the bank a list of outstanding checks. They watched for the checks on the list and cashed them against the new account. Fortunately, no one tried any funny business but the bank still did everything they could to help us minimize issues on our account.

They also moved a direct deposit that was going into the old account directly into the new account. We told them when it was coming and they took care of everything.

This was all done at Wells Fargo which I think is a pretty rotten, non-customer service oriented bank (please don't flame me - JMHO ) and they did all this pretty much automatically so you should be fine with your bank and account.

Good luck. I'm sorry this is happening to you when you should just be filled with happy anticipation for your wonderful trip to WDW. Good luck!!

I was hoping they could just transfer the direct deposit for me when it comes next week. I checked with my husband's co. and it's too late to put a stop on it, so this makes me feel better.

So far no-one has messed with the account so I should be okay until morning.
At least that's what my bank said, they want me to come down in the AM and identify the fraud before I can go any further with plans.

Thanks for all the helpful advice

 

[momof2inPA]

I'm confused...how could someone cash a check made out to pay a bill? Didn't you make it out to the company or utility?...or do you mean you just signed the check and left the "pay to" line blank?

I watched a news show once about check washing, where the criminals just washed or bleached information off of checks and wrote in their own info. With technology advances, I'm not sure this is still possible, but I bet it is.

 

[jennifer293]

I used to work at a bank and when we would encode checks in the machine and we misprinted it we used this chemical on the paper and it would take the number right off of the check and we would let it dry and do it again with the right number.

I don't know how hard this chemical is to come by but just in case they can I would be at the bank ASAP closing my account!!!

 

[Disney Debbie]

Something similar happened just last week to my best friend. Someone in Alabama has somehow gotten hold of her routing # and checking # and had checks printed in A DIFFERENT NAME! - that they apparently have the id for! For some reason TJ Maxx in Birmingham got suspicious of the check - after they accepted it! and called the bank. Then another 8 checks came in! They have all been sent back by the bank and I assume the companies that accepted them will have to take this hit. Anyway - my friend had to file a police report and close her bank account. This happened the day before her direct deposit so they just immediately transferred it into the new account. She's not liable for any of this.

Also - 15 years ago when we moved from Atlanta to our current hometown we apparently gave some old clothes to charity and had some old checks in there! Someone wrote two checks forging my name on one and my husband's on the other. So here we are new in town and bouncing checks all over the place! My bank - big Atlanta bank - didn't even question them - I didn't have a clue what was going on until I got them to print me a statement so I could see why I was bouncing checks. They were really ugly about it - but they credited the money back and gave me a letter to take to all the local people - including our new church! - that we'd bounced checks at. I think with most banks, I would think all of them, that as long as you inform them of the fraud as soon as you know about it you aren't liable. I'm sure that stupid bank in Atlanta wouldn't have credited my money if they didn't have to!!

 

[msudawgs30]

I accidently put the check in with my tithe at church and the secretary deposited it without even looking at who it was to. The scary thing is that the bank didn't even question why a church would be depositing a check made out to a secular business .

I guess I'm very happy that they had it and not some thieving nut job

 

[CheapMom]

Pheeeww. Glad to hear this news!

 

[Gillian]

That's good news!

DH once mixed up 2 checks when he was paying bills. Amex put through the wrong one and the bank paid it! I guess so much is automated these days that a lot of mistakes aren't noticed. The other company sent back the wrong check with a note.