The $12,000 is back where it belongs: in the hands of small business owners. She said the business owner spent months trying to get help from the bank after one of her checks was stolen from the mail and cashed out of state.
Just two days after NBC 5 Responds contacted Chase Bank, the stolen $12,000 was back in her bank account.
M&M Express is a father-daughter trucking business that has grown significantly in Addison for more than 20 years. Trucks went from 1 to 8, M went from 2 to 1.
“My dad and I started the company in 2005. He passed away a few years ago, so now it's just me. So it's Misty, not Mike and Misty,” says M&M. Express owner Misty Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald now runs his own company and has to become an organizational leader.
“I keep copies of all checks paid,” she said.
When Fitzgerald received a message last fall that one of her vendors hadn't received the $12,000 check she mailed, she immediately checked her Chase business account.
“I thought, 'Oh, my check has been cashed.' I looked at the printed version of the check. [someone else]. It was not addressed to the vendor. “Someone whitewashed the name I wrote on the check and put their own name on it,” Fitzgerald said. “It's not even the same font.”
NBC 5 was unable to find a record of a person with the same name and address as the one on the altered check. Fitzgerald filed a fraud complaint and said Chase told her the process would take 60 to 90 days.
“They had no answers,” Fitzgerald said. “We're a small company. $12,000 for him is a lot of money for us.”
Hayden Lynch, an employee and longtime friend of Mr. Fitzgerald, said: “It was clear it was a scam, but Mr. Chase kept saying, “We're looking into it,'' which wasn't right.'' . After seeing Fitzgerald struggling with Chase, he decided to contact NBC 5 Responds for help without telling his boss.
“I was sitting at home one night and you were on TV and I was like, 'PJ!'” Lynch said.
So NBC 5 Responds contacted Chase, who immediately got a call back to Fitzgerald.
“Two days after NBC contacted Chase, the CEO or someone above him contacted me and said everything was resolved and the money was back in my account,” Fitz said. Gerald said. “I thought, 'Wow.' For months, six months, I've been calling, crying, trying to be kind, trying to be mean, but nothing worked. It took two days. But that was it.”
At the same time, a Chase spokesperson told NBC Five Responses: We deposited money into her account and apologized for her delay. ”
“For small people, every penny counts,” Fitzgerald said.
“You are a voice that some small businesses and individuals don’t have,” Lynch said.
Fitzgerald said he doesn't mail many checks anymore and couldn't find out anything more about who actually cashed the stolen checks.
Important points
If you're still using checks, here are some important points to prevent this from happening.
- Do not leave checks in U.S. Post Office mailboxes. Please only use safe, supervised drop-off locations.
- Checks are written in gel pen ink. That's why I can't wash it.
- Consider using trackable digital payment methods instead of checks.
