Consumer complaint received 2024-10-07
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account — Transaction was not authorized
Company: InDebted Corporation (TX)

I have a collections agency harassing me in regard to the below fraudulent incident. I have filed a police report recently in hopes that the agency will leave me alone. This is a situation of identity theft / fraudulent transactions from my bank account. I refuse to pay this money that a hacker stole from me. 



I, XXXX XXXX, am writing this letter to detail a fraudulent incident that happened in XXXX of XXXX while I was visiting my home state of XXXX. 

I woke up on Friday, XX/XX/year>, and checked my phone. I noticed I had over XXXX emails in my XXXX app, all from the early hours of the morning. XXXX of these emails were from random online newsletters, travel sites, online shopping sites and several other random businesses. Each email was a welcome email basically thanking me for making an account with them or asking me to reset a password. I have had no relation with any of these sites before. My thoughts were that whoever hacked me was creating an online presence so they could get to the following : It was concerning when the last email that I read was a business which I had heard of before. This email which came at XXXX XXXX  on XX/XX/year>, was from a XXXX XXXX that requesting a two-factor authentication for log in purposes. Another email from XXXX XXXX followed that at XXXX XXXX  stating Deposit Successful in the amount of {$200.00} ( Deposit Reference # : XXXX ). A third email then followed at XXXX XXXX  stating Deposit Successful in the amount of {$640.00} ( Deposit Reference # : XXXX ). I still have these emails. 

I immediately checked my XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX and did not see any charges that were taken from my checking account. I assumed it was just a spam email but was going to keep an eye on it throughout the day. It was sometime in the late afternoon when I checked my banking app again and saw XXXX separate charges for {$640.00} and {$200.00}. I was pretty infuriated at this. 

I then immediately called my bank to report the fraudulent charges and since it was still in the processing stage, XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX was able to reverse it and give me those funds back. I cancelled my debit card and then I was told that the deposit made to XXXX XXXX was an ACH charge, which meant that somebody got a hold of my banking information ( account and likely routing numbers ). I had to completely close my checking account, open a new account, move my money to the new account, order a new debit card, cancel any ACHs that I had set up online for cell phone bills, electric bills, Wi-Fi , etc. It was a headache of a process, but I was just glad that I saw this right away and was able to report the fraudulent charge and receive the money back. 

I also changed my XXXX password and my banking apps password as well. My next step was to reach out to XXXX directly. I messaged their customer service because after I flagged those XXXX charges with Bank XXXX XXXX, XXXX sent me an email at XXXX XXXX  on XX/XX/year>, stating they have temporarily suspended my account due to inconsistencies flagged by their system. They requested I submit the card that was used to deposit the funds, a photo of myself holding up a piece of paper with todays date and a valid state-issued photo ID. I responded advising them they need to cancel this account as I have never used XXXX and whoever created this profile was not me and they withdrew the funds from my banking account. They responded the following morning apologizing and confirming the closure of the account and mentioned all account closures are permanent and creation of another account in the future is strictly prohibited. 

I thought all was well and that the unfortunate fraudulent issue was resolved. However, on XX/XX/year> at XXXX XXXX, I received an email from InDebted who advised they are a collections agency hired by XXXX to work on their behalf to help resolve my outstanding balance. Apparently, XXXX is a deposit service associated with XXXX. The hacker who obtained my banking information and created a XXXX account must have used Trustly to make the XXXX deposits. 

I confirmed that InDebted and XXXX are legitimate companies. InDebted advised that because my XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX had reversed those charges, XXXX was now out that money. I tried explaining the situation to them. I tried contacting XXXX again who said they couldnt help me. I tried contacting XXXX XXXX  XXXX who said it was out of their hands as well. They advised they could send me a piece of mail confirming the fraudulent activity and that my account has now been closed while they do their own investigation. 

InDebted advised before they can raise this dispute with XXXX, they require a police report or any supporting document, such as an affidavit, regarding this fraudulent activity. I forwarded them the document from my bank account which was an electronic record of statement of unauthorized ACH Debit Account/Transaction. This was sent on XX/XX/year>. 

All was quiet and I thought everything was taken care of until InDebted emailed me again on XX/XX/year> stating they had received a response from Trustly regarding my dispute. They have informed them that they contacted XXXX once again, and XXXX has confirmed that there is no evidence of fraud associated with my account. XXXX has indicated that as a result, they can not take any further action and to resolve this matter, I would need to reach out to XXXX directly. I advised that I already had, and they were of no help saying there is nothing they can do. They advised they will keep on reaching out to me until the balance is settled. 

I inquired on what else I could do because at this point, having a collections agency on my tail for something that I had no control over is not only bothersome, but it could also affect my credit or show up on a background check if I am looking to buy property, volunteer, any background run by my employer, etc. They recommended filing and obtaining a police report documenting the fraud and then they will pass it along to XXXX for review again. I have also filed another complaint/ticket with XXXX support for this ongoing issue. 

As I conclude my account of what transpired, I would like to reiterate and solemnly swear that I have never gambled with XXXX XXXX. My banking account information was stolen, and fraudulent charges were conducted. I should not be responsible for paying these funds. 

I thank you for your help and consideration during this unfortunate circumstance.