A Higganum woman turned to NBC Connecticut Responds when a check she wrote wound up cashed and cleared by her bank three times.
“They’re my bank. They should be protecting me. They should be protecting my interest and my money,” Kelly Moyher said.
The troubles began in July, when Moyher hired someone through Thumbtack.com and paid him $500 to get rid of the clutter in her garage.
“Well, it was some heavy lifting, definitely. Something that was going to take me alone to do, at least several days. So, I was looking to get it done,” added Moyher.
Moyher told us the worker instructed her to write the check out to his fiancée.
“Yeah, it definitely set off, yeah know, a little bell. But he’s a younger gentleman and I thought maybe he doesn’t have his own account or something like that,” Moyher said.
Moyher’s bank statement shows the $500 cleared her checking account with Webster Bank in September. Then, a month later, check number 2988, that same check she wrote to the worker, cleared her account a second time.
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She said the bank reimbursed her account several days later.
“I was really upset, you know, it’s tricky to know who to trust these days,” said Moyer.
Moyher said she then discovered that check number 2988 cleared a third time in November at a TD bank branch.
“This time it was altered. The amount was altered for $1500 and the bank didn’t catch it,” Moyher said.
That transaction resulted in overdraft fees and other charges. Moyher filed a fraud report with Webster and opened a new checking account at a different bank.
To balance the account, Moyher said Webster credited her $500 while the investigation was underway. But that only made up the amount the check was originally written for, not the altered amount. After going back and forth with her bank, Kelly asked NBC Connecticut Responds to intervene.
“It wasn’t until I did contact NBC that very day I believe they did put a $1,000 back into my account,” said Moyher.
A spokesperson with Webster bank provided this statement to NBC Connecticut Responds:
"Webster began working closely with Ms. Moyher as soon as became aware of the issue. Based on a review of our records, we believe, at this point, we have completely reimbursed her the full amount related to this matter. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused, and hope that we have reached a satisfactory conclusion."
We reached out to TD Bank regarding this incident. A spokesperson released this statement to NBC Connecticut Responds:
"Due to privacy concerns, we do not discuss the account activity and related facts pertaining to particular customers. However, I can tell you that TD Bank takes allegations of fraud very seriously and investigates customer complaints such as this, and makes determinations, based upon the specific facts."
