Fergie's Tech Blog

Know your rights on bank account fraud

Bob Sullivan writes on MSNBC.com:

Marci Horn's three small children needed her attention more than ever. Her husband's sudden death had left her their only caregiver. Suddenly, the 39-year-old Bethesda, Md., woman had to do all the hugging, all the talking, all the earning — and for the first time she had to take care of the family finances.

So when she received an e-mail that appeared to be from SunTrust last November, she was confused. The e-mail asked her to update her account information. She ignored it, and several others.

"But they became more and more urgent," she said.

So finally, to get SunTrust off her back, Horn clicked on the link and filled out the form.

"I was trying to be responsible, trying to take care of everything," she said. Instead, she found herself in an even bigger hole. A few days later, when she went to withdraw money from her checking account, it was $800 overdrawn.

Within one day, Horn said, her account information had made its way all around the former Soviet Union. A Fraud Charge List she received from the bank, which she showed MSNBC.com, reveals a remarkable pattern. A $114.04 withdrawal from Obolensk, Russia — then another, the same day, for $380.13. Three days later, there's a $190.21 withdrawal made in Kyiv, Ukraine. Then a $380.09 withdrawal in Domashna, Latvia. Eventually, along with other charges, there are $224 in non-sufficient funds charges. The tab ran up to $3,000.

posted by Fergie @ 8/12/2005 04:10:00 PM