‘It’s ridiculous,’ fume bank customers who lost over $10k from their accounts – others demand ‘hold them accountable’

TWO businessmen were left fuming as they lost more than $10,000 from their accounts.

Robb Fine and Harold Wilson, of Indianapolis, saw scammers hijack payments intended for firms they work with.

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In 2021, Fine said he discovered the problem after companies didn’t receive payments on time, per the NBC affiliate WTHR.

The checks were stolen and they were tampered with.

“And they’re so blatant, it’s ridiculous,” he said as he blasted the thieves.

Fine, a distribution company owner, said he lost around $21,000.

At least three checks were tampered with – one worth $7,261, another $3,590, and a third for more than $10,900.

Meanwhile, Wilson, who runs a plumbing service, lost around $12,000 after four checks were stolen.

The thieves changed the recipient’s names and Fine admitted he didn’t know where the payments were being sent to.

“That looks absolutely ridiculous. The whole thing just screams fraud,” he said.

“It was absurd that the bank accepted that check and allowed that to happen.”

Copies of the tampered checks, seen by WTHR, showed the layout had been changed and on some, the figures had been handwritten.

But, thieves studied the information that was on the original check.

Different signatures that appeared to authorize the check were scribed onto the pieces of paper.

“They made their own checks just by getting information off of our checks,” a worker from Wilson’s company said.

Fine’s bank recovered some of the money, but he said he was still waiting for $11,000 to be reimbursed.

“Nobody’s jumping up and down and saying ‘Oh we’re gonna take care of this and we’re going to take care of that,”’ he fumed.

Meanwhile, Wilson was without $3,000 after two of the stolen business checks were recovered.

Family members of the victims are calling for scammers to be held accountable.

“People are getting away with this, and it doesn’t seem like anyone’s having to pay for what they’re doing,” Wilson’s wife Mary said.

Experts at Experian revealed how bank customers can protect themselves from check fraud.

They suggested checks shouldn’t be mailed from home and they should be written with a black gel pen.

Fraudsters might use chemicals to get rid of the amount on the check before writing a new sum.

Homeowners should check their mailboxes regularly to ensure payments are not being stolen.

Cases of suspected fraud should be reported to the Federal Trade Commission.