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Can someone take money from my account with a check that has my routing number and my account number on it? I STUPIDLY gave a check to a "charity" organization that I cannot find on line and when I call then number there is a disconnection notice. Can they steal my money?

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2 Answers

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Yes they can. I would contact your bank immediately and have them put a hold on your account or have your account number changed. You could also try filing a police report but its usually next to impossible for them to arrest anyone. Just a FYI for next time:

  1. Find out if they are a legally registered charity. If your unsure, do a search for them on Google or Bing.
  2. Especially avoid charities that contact you 24x7 and tell you some BS story. If they continue to bother you, most countries require that they remove your information so they can't contact you anymore (if they don't then obviously they are a fake)
  3. Avoid contact via email especially and avoid giving them more information then what they already have.
  4. There is a good list of tips at http://www.ic3.gov/media/2011/110311.aspx
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UGH thank you....I cant talk to anyone personally at my bank until Monday morning but I did send them an email and will call them first thing. What a mess...I cant believe I fell for this. – Karrie Ann Jul 21 '12 at 0:57
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I also suggest you talk to the police. Scams like this are highly illegal - falling under the jurisdiction of the FBI (US) or SOCA (UK). Agencies have got a huge database of these kinds of scams, and can often actually identify the groups likely to be responsible. They also will be able to give you lots of good advice and reasonable expectations for what they might do with your data. Also, if the bad guys do manage to steal money from your account, a police incident number can do wonders for an insurance claim. – Polynomial Jul 21 '12 at 8:19
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Not only your money is at risk, they now have your full name, adress, bank information like routing number will tell them the location where you opened your account. They also have your email adress is at risk, they might try to use those information to reset your password. Your facebook account is also at risk. If i were you i would make sure my password is not weak and all my personal password account retrevals cant be retreaved by whatever i suspect some one else might know other than me

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