I received a check in the mail yesterday for $27.68. The attached letter details a lawsuit brought against a company, J.K. Publications, by the Federal Trade Commission some ten years ago. Apparently this company got the credit card info of around 3 million people and began submitting false charges through a payment processor they were using for their "business" (my quick reading suggests that they had some legit businesses, but several bogus ones).
At first I thought the check was fake, and a quick search around the 'net showed that many out there also suspect that this is some sort of scam.
It is not. I called the bank the check is drawn from, Bank of the West, and spoke to an account service rep. She confirmed that the routing number is theirs, the account does exist, and that there are sufficient funds in the account to cover the check. She also indicated that she has gotten several calls about these checks, all of which are for the same amount.
So go ahead and cash your check, if you got one. I don't even remember this company or any of the others referenced in the letter or court documents I've read, but the information supplied with the check states that many people were charged simply because their credit card info was on the list these thieves had.
I filed this one under the "windfall" category in the income column of my budget spreadsheet. What else could it be, a decade after the fact?
4 comments:
I received a check for $ 27.68 as well and I deposited mine after having Chase call Bank of the West to verify the funds. The funds were there, the Bank of the West employee did mention that it was a settlement, and the check did clear. --John
Mine did, too, and no problems since. I think word has gotten out that these checks are the real deal and people are cashing them.
Do the names of the companies involved ring any bells with you? I cannot remember them at all, so I'm guessing that I must have been one of the people whose credit card info they had even though I had never done business with them. In fact, I'm not sure I was ever charged anything - maybe they had not gotten to my number yet.
Paul--
I don't even have the credit card I was using way back then and I have shredded those statements. The names of the companies didn't ring a bell either. Oh well, water under the bridge :)
-John
John -
And money in the bank! :)
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