The counterfeit-check scam that slammed local financial institutions this month isn’t confined to San Antonio.
The Better Business Bureau reports receiving complaints from consumers across the country whose accounts each had about $30 improperly deducted, with most of those coming from the East Coast. Hundreds, and possibly thousands, of counterfeit-checks were written on accounts at San Antonio banks and credit unions.
The San Antonio office of the Secret Service confirmed it is conducting an investigation into the local end of the scheme but wouldn’t elaborate.
“I can’t really speak on (how the perpetrators obtained customers’ checking account information), but just in general, I would say that people just need to be very careful (about) who they give their information to,” said Jackie Carter, the Secret Service’s special agent in charge in San Antonio.
The phony checks were made payable to different companies sharing an address in Silver Springs, Nev. Tim Johnston, president of BBB in Sparks, Nev., said he went to the address and found none of the companies was operating at the location.
“We’re still trying to figure out how this scheme is working,” Johnston said. “The scheme is kind of playing on the hope that people are not keeping up on their (bank) statements.”
An unauthorized electronic check for $29.95 didn’t escape Becky Niendorff’s attention, though, when she checked her statement online this month. The San Antonio respiratory therapist noticed a check made payable to BBU Interservices, one of the Nevada companies. The check had her first name misspelled and her address wrong.
Niendorff called the toll-free number next to BBU’s name on the check and was told the money was used to register for access to an adult website. She was instructed to go online to apply for a refund.
“I thought, why in the world would I go to their website and put more of my personal information when they’ve already ripped me off?” Niendorff said. Her credit union, Firstmark Credit Union, credited her account. A BBU official couldn’t be located for comment.
San Antonio Federal Credit Union (SACU) had flagged an unauthorized check made payable to a company called Royalty X on Stephen Spear’s account. He entered the name in an Internet search engine and found it was a porn site.
“Of course, the first recommendation was to immediately close the (checking) account,” said Spear, who is retired. That took the better part of a day. “Boy, that’s a big hassle,” he said.
A Royalty X representative couldn’t be located for comment.
Johnston, the BBB official, expressed skepticism that the money taken from consumers’ checking accounts actually is paying for access to online porn.
“I think that’s somebody’s just out for the money,” Johnston said. Local financial institutions say no customers have lost money from the scheme.
Just how bank and credit union customers’ names and account numbers have been obtained hasn’t been revealed. A SACU official earlier this week said the information may have been acquired from a “pretty well-known entity in San Antonio.” The official declined to identify it, and he couldn’t be reached Friday.
That, however, wouldn’t explain how account numbers of people who live in other parts of the country were acquired.
Also unclear is how the counterfeit checks are getting cashed. Johnston said he’s learned that fake account numbers were listed on the back of checks underneath where the checks were endorsed.
Johnston said he asked a representative of a bank how the scam worked. “He said, I can’t really tell you because it’s really unknown, but it’s possible that they would have individuals placed within a bank to help perpetrate the scheme.”
Many of the checks have been cashed at Bank of America, according to officials of local financial institutions.
Said Diane Wagner, a Bank of America spokeswoman: “We’re conducting our own investigation, and we are actually working with law enforcement authorities on this one.”
She added, “It could be broader than we think.”
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