The US Sun
‘I feel abandoned’ says bank customer after $50,000 disappeared from her account – and it was not her fault
By Olivia Salamone,17 hours ago
A WOMAN allegedly lost $50,000 to a check-washing scheme and she wasn’t the only one.
Multiple Florida residents, including business owners, were victims of check fraud.
NBC affiliate station WPTV spoke with several business owners about their recent experience with check fraud.
Their money was allegedly stolen from the mail and the checks were washed.
The latest victim allegedly lost $50,000 in the crime.
“Normally when I make my IRS payments, I write a check. I put it in the mail and I make my payments,” Lorna Swartz said.
“I called the police. I called the bank and indeed it was confirmed that it was a fraudulent check, that someone else other than the IRS had cashed it,” the Boynton Beach resident recalled.
She showed WPTV the original $50,000 check and the washed check.
“Forged my signature, left the amount,” Swartz said.
“The entities that I’ve contacted include the fraud department of the bank, the police department, the post office.”
Swartz said that the post office is investigating, however, her bank allegedly said there is nothing they can do.
“I feel abandoned.
“I would say I do not write checks at all anymore and I would use my credit card because there is much better protection,” Swartz said.
Other businesses in the Florida area have experienced similar fraud.
“I was just astonished that the bank never caught it. It was the same check number but made out to different names,” Andre Weliky, owner of the Boca Car Wash, said.
Another business allegedly lost almost $20,000.
“The big, the mother one, was Feb. 2 for $18,500,” Greg Cope, who operates a linen distribution company in Palm Beach Gardens, said.
“They were able to change, you know, the name to the amount that’s on the check, and, you know, it just became a really big hassle.”
Early this year, the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs wrote a letter to the president and CEO of the American Bankers Association expressing their concerns about the rising check-washing crimes.
“In 2022, banks saw an 84% increase in check fraud, costing consumers an estimated $815 million,” the committee wrote.
The 2023 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey, reported that 63% of respondents reported fraud activity through checks.
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