Someone cashed a check I did not write from my bank account

[ada903]

Yes we do! I was amazed how much interest and good discussions around identity theft issues this thread generated!

We sure have a wide pool of experience on TUG!

 

[jlr10]

I had a friend who got a job at a bank. While he was still on probation there was a problem with money going missing from some of the drawers. They knew it was someone in the bank but were having trouble finding the employee. His drawer ended up $10 short. They called him in and told him they knew he didn't take the money, and that they still couldn't find who was taking it. Unfortunately for him, because he was on probation, it was zero tolerence for being out of balance and he was let go. He was really disapointed because he loved the job, but thought that the bank should maintain those strict standards.

 

[toby9116]

Theft

I doubt it there will be much punishment for him. The bank assistant manager said such things happen all too often, it did not seem to come as a surprise to him. Normally a bank assistant manager would not admit this stuff happens all too often, but we really had some common background that allowed him to feel comfortable to say that to me (and we did speak in a foreign language when he said that, haha).

I should change the title of the thread to read: " Wells Fargo teller cashes out my account in order to balance his transactions for the day".

The teller accessed account without authorization, which is theft. Because it was caught and rectified does not change the initial willful action. The reaction of the manager of blowing the incident off would have caused me to demand my funds immediately and discontinue business with this institution. This was not an error. This was a deliberate act. The bank must have policies in place to check out teller shortages/overages at the end of the day. By not following policy and then blowing it off as these happen all the time is not acceptable. Change banks now!!
We should be vigilant because human error will happen. This was not an accident. This was a decision not to follow policy and cover a teller mistake by unauthorized accesses of a customers account.
.

 

[isisdave]

The teller should be terminated. They retain copies of the certified check paperwork. The teller could have easily gone through that paperwork if there was a question. He must have violated a gazillion policies pulling up your account and assessing an additional $100 without your authorization.

In fact, wouldn't he have had to do that to find your account number? or did he write it on the back of his hand?

And what a stupid thing to do, knowing that if he was wrong there was going to be a fraud investigation? If they don't find the $100 error in another transaction, they're going to think it is in the teller's pocket.

 

[eal]

Absolutely NO doubt in my mind that this was an incident of theft. If the teller isn't fired you need to find a new bank now.

 

[ada903]

After reading all your thoughts and talking with my sister in law who works in a bank, I am convinced that this needs to be followed up. You all are right. If at the end of the day he had to look up my account to withdraw $100 and fill out paperwork to do so, then why did he not look at the bank copy of the cashier's check to confirm the correct amount that he "thought" was $1,503 instead of $1,403? This really is intentional theft, whether to cover up a mistake somewhere else or to put it in his pocket!

Thinking of talking to the district manager or someone else higher up the chain! Oh boy, my local newspaper would love this story.

 

[K&PFitz]

I'm a bank compliance officer. I don't buy his story at all. He thought the check was for $1500? Baloney. He was out of balance and stole the money from you to cover it up. In our bank, he'd be fired.

 

[ada903]

Thanks for confirming - I will be following up on this and not let go. As of this morning, my $100 is still gone and has not been returned to me.

I'm a bank compliance officer. I don't buy his story at all. He thought the check was for $1500? Baloney. He was out of balance and stole the money from you to cover it up. In our bank, he'd be fired.

Does anybody who work in a bank know if Wells Fargo would be able to see at precisely what time of the day the $100 money order occurred? I assume they would be able to see it was done after hours with the public were gone, when the teller was balancing his drawer?

 

[Pat H]

Thanks for confirming - I will be following up on this and not let go. As of this morning, my $100 is still gone and has not been returned to me.



Does anybody who work in a bank know if Wells Fargo would be able to see at precisely what time of the day the $100 money order occurred? I assume they would be able to see it was done after hours with the public were gone, when the teller was balancing his drawer?

The answer to your question is yes. I would let it go for a few days since you don't know what is going on behind the scenes. If the teller is still there by the middle of next week, then I would do some more complaining. Your credit may have been processed after cutover so that it won't show until tomorrow.

It's just not that cut and dried. HR always makes the bank follow certain protocols before they fire someone. If the teller confesses, that makes it easier. BTW, I don't believe the story as told either.

 

[ada903]

Thanks! I will wait until next week before following up with the bank assistant manager. I will post an update!

 

[Kagehitokiri2]

The bank assistant manager said such things happen all too often

this statement is the issue...

The teller may very well be fired.

I think the measure of any company is how they treat their customers and employees. WF did right by the OP by refunding her money.

vs

If the teller is still there by the middle of next week, then I would do some more complaining.

I don't believe the story as told either.

...

Frankly, banks, credit card companies, etc. can't be bothered to investigate small frauds. It costs too much money and time. They take the losses as a cost of doing business. Employees stealing is a completely different matter though and we persued those to the end. Sometimes you just can't solve or prove the case and that is very frustrating.

>

Banking regulations are pretty strict

I'm a bank compliance officer. I don't buy his story at all. He thought the check was for $1500? Baloney. He was out of balance and stole the money from you to cover it up. In our bank, he'd be fired.

I am on the phone with my sister in law who works as a teller at the local credit union and she says the guy should be fired too.

 

[DaveNV]

I'm thinking the bank teller needed $100 and felt he had an easy mark who wouldn't notice. Easy to put it down to adjusting an error, but seems suspiciously like he pocketed the $100 himself. If OP is as calm as she says about not raising a fuss, who easier to steal $100 from? If this bank has so much inept performance from their staff, and they excuse a teller who does this sort of thing, it's definitely time to find a new bank.

I knew a guy once (about 1980) who worked in a convenience store. He earned minimum wage for the work. But this guy always had a ton of pocket money, and seemed to have a lot more disposable cash than his job would indicate.

I finally got him to tell me what he was up to. As I remember it, basically when someone gave him exact cash for a sale, he'd take the cash and give them the item. At sometime after the customer left he'd ring it through the register for five or ten dollars less than the price. He'd track his deliberate shortages, then at some point he'd pocket the amount he'd accumulated. By the end of his shift he had a pocket full of cash. Sneaky bugger.

This went on for a few months, till the management began to notice that his shift never seemed to bring in the same kind of money as the other shifts at the store. One thing led to another, and the guy quit and left town shortly before the sheriff came around with a warrant for his arrest. I never did hear whether the guy was arressted or not.

Criminals are all around, and some bank tellers are no exception.

Dave

 

[bobcat]

You guys are right to suggest this needs serious punishment! I guess because I grew up in a communist /dictatorial system where we had no consumer voice, I am not a very strong advocate for my rights when stuff like this happens. I tend to be happy the problem was fixed but I also don't seek "justice". Maybe I should. That's how we keep things accountable in this country, by complaining and asking for consequences for wrongdoings.

I would go to the local paper and tell them my story. I would also sue the bank.

 

[Pat H]

this statement is the issue...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pat H
The teller may very well be fired.

I think the measure of any company is how they treat their customers and employees. WF did right by the OP by refunding her money.

vs

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pat H
If the teller is still there by the middle of next week, then I would do some more complaining.

I don't believe the story as told either. Quote

You got me. I guess I did change my tune a little but not really. Trying to explain things here can be difficult. It really shouldn't be up to Ada to persue the punishment of the teller. The branch should be doing that on their own. None of us know the whole story either. We only know what the asst. manager TOLD Ada but not where it has gone from there internally.

As stupid as it sounds, it would be illegal for anyone in the bank to tell Ada that the teller was fired because he stole money from her account. (Don't shoot the messenger.) However, if the bank went and filed a criminal complaint, the bank can tell the police he was fired and the police can tell Ada. After all who wants to tarnish a thief's reputation?

 

[Kagehitokiri2]

You got me. I guess I did change my tune a little but not really. Trying to explain things here can be difficult. It really shouldn't be up to Ada to persue the punishment of the teller. The branch should be doing that on their own. None of us know the whole story either. We only know what the asst. manager TOLD Ada but not where it has gone from there internally.

As stupid as it sounds, it would be illegal for anyone in the bank to tell Ada that the teller was fired because he stole money from her account. (Don't shoot the messenger.) However, if the bank went and filed a criminal complaint, the bank can tell the police he was fired and the police can tell Ada. After all who wants to tarnish a thief's reputation?

i kind of understand (when responding to others) but i emphasize that the statement from the manager is the issue IMO.

i dont understand some of your "emphasis." (regardless of whether its in response to others.) for example - im not talking about crime/fraud/theft/mistakes/etc. im talking about banking regulations, and the impact of said regulations on bank policy.

going back to statement from assistant manager - so bank employees can just go in and access customer accounts and do anything they want, and you dont care?

because in this instance, its not just about security practices etc, its about banking regulations. violations can result in extremely damaging fines/actions, so obviously those subject to such regulations are extremely concerned with avoiding such violations.

 

[Pat H]

i kind of understand (when responding to others) but i emphasize that the statement from the manager is the issue IMO.

i dont understand some of your "emphasis." (regardless of whether its in response to others.) for example - im not talking about crime/fraud/theft/mistakes/etc. im talking about banking regulations, and the impact of said regulations on bank policy.

going back to statement from assistant manager - so bank employees can just go in and access customer accounts and do anything they want, and you dont care?

because in this instance, its not just about security practices etc, its about banking regulations. violations can result in extremely damaging fines/actions, so obviously those subject to such regulations are extremely concerned with avoiding such violations.

How in the world would you get the impression that I don't care? And no they can't do anything they want. I feel the teller should be fired whether he took the money or he really thought he was correcting a mistake. What he did is not the way to correct a mistake. Banking regulations don't cover things like tellers making errors. Even the best and most honest tellers make mistakes. Embezzlement is another matter entirely.

The criminals I detested the most were employees who stole, people who victimized the elderly and bank robbers who shoved a gun in a teller's face for a few thousand $.

 

[Kagehitokiri2]

How in the world would you get the impression that I don't care? And no they can't do anything they want. I feel the teller should be fired whether he took the money or he really thought he was correcting a mistake. What he did is not the way to correct a mistake. Banking regulations don't cover things like tellers making errors. Even the best and most honest tellers make mistakes. Embezzlement is another matter entirely.

The criminals I detested the most were employees who stole, people who victimized the elderly and bank robbers who shoved a gun in a teller's face for a few thousand $.

sorry! i had been in the process of editing my post to improve it. one of the things i was going to clarify was that "you" was asst manager.

neither moving money between accounts nor depositing money is "stealing" but i sure as heck dont want bank policy to be that employees are free to do either anytime they want.

not saying THIS kind of thing is a huge deal, but its clearly not something that is ignored.

 

[ada903]

An update! The assistant bank manager called me and said they are formally investigating and that off the record, his opinion is that the teller will be fired. I feel bad for that person, he may have a family to take care of, but it was inevitable. I don't know if the teller is evil and did the wrong thing on purpose or he was extremely dumb and did not rationalize the meaning of his actions.

Thank you all again my sweet tug friends for all the advice!

 

[Pat H]

An update! The assistant bank manager called me and said they are formally investigating and that off the record, his opinion is that the teller will be fired. I feel bad for that person, he may have a family to take care of, but it was inevitable. I don't know if the teller is evil and did the wrong thing on purpose or he was extremely dumb and did not rationalize the meaning of his actions.

Thank you all again my sweet tug friends for all the advice!

No reason to feel bad. The teller did the wrong thing.

 

[ada903]

Thanks for the help on this Pat! It felt like we were the private investigators on this case

No reason to feel bad. The teller did the wrong thing.

 

[Kagehitokiri2]

The assistant bank manager called me and said they are formally investigating and that off the record, his opinion is that the teller will be fired.

much more confidence inspiring.

 

[learnalot]

After reading all your thoughts and talking with my sister in law who works in a bank, I am convinced that this needs to be followed up. You all are right. If at the end of the day he had to look up my account to withdraw $100 and fill out paperwork to do so, then why did he not look at the bank copy of the cashier's check to confirm the correct amount that he "thought" was $1,503 instead of $1,403? This really is intentional theft, whether to cover up a mistake somewhere else or to put it in his pocket!

Thinking of talking to the district manager or someone else higher up the chain! Oh boy, my local newspaper would love this story.

I see you are from the Pacific Northwest - I think Ken Schram or Jessie Jones would love your story for their consumer advocacy segments.

 

[ada903]

I seriously pondered over taking this to the media if the bank shoves it under the carpet. I am told they are taking it seriously and investigating.... And that it is likely the teller would be fired...

 

[learnalot]

I seriously pondered over taking this to the media if the bank shoves it under the carpet. I am told they are taking it seriously and investigating.... And that it is likely the teller would be fired...

After posting my reply, I read further down the thread and saw that you seemed to feel like you were getting more satisfaction. I'm glad to hear that.

 

[AnnaS]

Wow - I just came to browse and forgot about this. I posted on # 21, page 1 - page 4 - post # in the 70s and no email notification. Gotta go back and read the last three pages.