A retired Northern California couple is speaking out after scammers allegedly drained nearly $18,000 from their checking account through a combination of counterfeit checks and unauthorized online payments, setting off a weeks-long battle to recover their money, according to ABC 7.
The couple first realized something was wrong after stopping at an ATM and noticing that their account balance was far lower than expected. A review of their bank records uncovered three checks they say they never wrote, along with 17 electronic transactions they did not authorize. The fake checks totaled more than $6,500, while the online payments added another roughly $11,400 in losses.
According to the couple, many of the payments were directed to accounts with Verizon, Capital One, and Wells Fargo that had no connection to them.
The report says that they immediately reported the fraud to Chase and closed the compromised checking account. The bank quickly reimbursed the counterfeit checks, but the dispute over the electronic payments proved much more difficult. The couple says they were initially asked to provide documentation showing they did not own the recipient accounts, a process that became frustrating because the other financial institutions could not discuss accounts belonging to other customers.
After filing a report with the local sheriff's office, they
