A few weeks ago, I posted a warning notice to Consumers about a company - IDTECHS - which was involved in a wide-spread scam to illegally debit funds from accounts without authorization.
In various e-mail communications, consumers were blindly offered advance pay-day loans. However, the initial offer was just a fraudulent scheme to obtain bank account numbers so that IDTECHS could illegally debit funds without the prior knowledge of the account-holders.
For example, after the Bank Card clients provided their account numbers for funds to be deposited, IDTECHS proceeded to debit funds for "insurance charges" and "fraud protection" coverage - in spite of the fact the options were not chosen.
When consumers checked their account balances to determine if the loan funds were deposited, they got quite a shock when they discovered that - instead - money had been debited from their accounts on false pretenses.
Then, when the consumers called the 800 number provided by IDTECHS on the bank statements, they got the run-around from the company - and generally - a blatant refusal to reimburse the funds.
One employee argued that the consumer had checked a box for insurance on the loan - and that even if they were not approved for the cash advance - they were still required to pay for the insurance - which later was established to be bogus, too.
When I posted a warning about this scam, in the ensuing weeks thereafter, about two dozen victims were able to locate my blog post through an Internet search on IDTECHS, and have since poured out their woes to me at the blog site.
February 6th.2008 Post:ijulian.blogspot.com/2008/02/wwwidthecscompay-loan-scam-fraudulent.html
In spite of complaints with the Better Business Bureau and the FBI, victims are still being ripped off as of yesterday.
But now, it has come to my attention that due to this scam - another one has been uncovered at US Bank and their fraudulent subsidiary - Skylight Financial.
One contact of mine went to U.S. Bank the other night to withdraw funds which were being automatically deposited into his account at midnight and was shocked to be denied access to his own account! A message onscreen informed him that the ATM service was not available, in spite of the fact the funds were in his account.
When he called the 800 number on the back of his Visa Debit Card, a tape-recorded message from the U.S. BANK Subsidiary - Skylight Financial - noted that the business office would be closed until 9 a.m. the following morning.
My friend was in shock! He was down to a dollar in his wallet, with just a trickle of gas in his vehicle. Without the funds, he would not be able to eat or put gas in his car so that he could drive home.
At this juncture, he called VISA International to ask for "emergency" assistance.
When VISA checked the account number, they were able to verify that the debit card was valid, and that there did not appear to be any reason for a denial of access to funds.
According to their records, though, U.S. BANK - not Skylight Financial - was listed as the issuer of the VISA Debit Card.
When the kind operator put the card-holder through to US Bank, they stated that they did not have any "access" to the account, and consequently, could not make a determination as to why the request for funds was denied at the ATM, or even give authorization for issuance of emergency funds.
The operator informed the consumer he would have to wait until the following morning when Skylight Financial opened at 9 a.m. to determine what the problem was with his account card.
Imagine that! My friend was forced to sleep in his car overnight, without dinner, and huddle in the cold throughout the chilly evening until the bank answered the phone in the morning.
In the morning when he spoke to a couple of operators, and asked to speak to a supervisor - at first - the brisk employees put him on hold, then proceeded to rudely hang up on him.
When he finally reached a Skylight representative with a modicum of professionalism about an hour later - and after being put on hold for about thirty minutes - he was informed that a restriction had been placed on his card because of an "unauthorized" charge dispute he submitted in respect to IDTHECS.
Yup, the scam originally reported on this blog, weeks ago.
Although Skylight agreed to "lift" the restriction so he could access his cash that morning, they informed him in a huff that the account would be closed the next day (May 2nd) on the grounds that he was a "risk".
My friend was in a panic because he was expecting a second payroll account deposit at midnight - which meant - he might not be able to access those funds!
When he became angry and noted he had not been given any legal notice of the intention to close his account - and that the many other Americans suffered the same illegal access to accounts by IDTECHS - the operator began to make silly excuses and gave him the bum's rush.
"We can close your account at any time," she snapped at him.
"Besides," she added, "We prompted you for a few days to inform you about the closure, so it's your fault for not responding."
My friend did not receive any so-called prompts. In fact, when he checked his balance the day before on the telephone and the Internet, there were no notices to that effect. Notwithstanding, his account with the bank had been in good-standing for over two years before the unauthorized charge by IDTHECS.
What an absurd notion, to punish an account holder because they were victimized by an embezzler accessing their account - no doubt due to a lack of bank security, yet!
When he argued these points, the operator got annoyed and became rude and insulting, so my friend asked to speak to the Manager. Not surprisingly, the woman claimed the Director - Patricia Wys - was not available.
The Skylight employee would not disclose a contact number for the President & CEO for Skylight - Kevin Lee - noting in a snotty voice that she was not required to give out the information.
At least three lengthily messages left on the Patricia Wys voice mail unit remained unanswered, in spite of the emergency.
In retrospect, it appears that Ms. Wys was "hiding" and did not want to be bothered dealing with a crisis situation where a client was illegally denied funds, treated reprehensibly by staff, and suffered injury due to bank negligence, a breach of an agreement, and Violations of State & Federal Bank regulations.
However, the bizarre story does not end there.
When my friend withdraw all but six dollars from his account, he later checked his balance, and was shocked to notice that an "internal transfer" in the sum of $70.00 had been debited from his account that morning after he talked with the bank employee; now, placing his account into an overdraft status of about sixty-one dollars.
What was going on?
He called Starlight back and was informed that an old account that was closed (over a year ago) had an overdraft balance of $70.00 and that the Bank made the debit that morning to cover the loss.
The new turn of events didn't make any sense.
My friend pointed out that the allegations of a previous overdraft were ridiculous. After all, why would the bank open up a new account with VISA access to ATM's if his prior account was not in good standing? Notwithstanding, no one ever contacted him from the bank asking for payment, or allowed him to dispute the alleged charges as required by law.
When my friend asked how the charges occurred, Paco Costa - a bank person who was reluctant to provide any information about his exact position with the Starlight Financial - alleged that charges for a Gold's Gym Membership (Gold's Gym is notorious for their deceitful business practices; a story will follow) were submitted on the account - "after it was closed".
Can you imagine? The bank was seeking to recover charges (a year after-the-fact) on an account that was officially "closed"?
My friend noted how ludicrous a notion it was. Then, it got even more sinister.
When asked pointedly about the alleged charges, Paco Costa was unable to provide a contact number or proof of any alleged debits made to Gold's Gym on the telephone. In fact, at this juncture, Mr. Costa admitted that the Gold's debit requests had been returned unpaid. The $70.00 charges debited that morning were accrued by virtue of $15.00 NSF charges the bank imposed on the unauthorized charges that were submitted on the "closed account".
Insanity.
Imagine that, a bank affiliate - associated with one of the leading banks in the country - U.S. BANK - engaging in such wild, deceitful, fraudulent conduct.
Paco Costa didn't have any response when the obvious questions were raised on the issues. How could he? Clearly, the man was not dealing with a full deck - and obviously - had an IQ of about 2, if that.
Of course, it is wholly possible that the reason my friend was able to run circles around Mr. Costa - in the logic department, for one - was because Costa was aware that - he, Patricia Wys, and Kevin Lee (CEO of Skylight) - were in deep sh** over their illegal, wrongful conduct which was in direct Violation of State & Federal Laws. And, in view of it, he'd better be careful about the comments he made on record.
In fact, after reviewing the facts and evidence in these quarters, it is evident that US Bank set up Skylight Financial to rip off "poor" Americans.
For example, if a consumer applies for a US Bank card online, and their assets are low or their credit is spotty, US Bank offers a "Skylight Financial" card for consumers who have regular payroll deposits or a direct deposit of Government Benefit checks, like Social Security.
Initially, to open the card, the consumers are charged a hefty start-up fee. If they are unable to open an account elsewhere due to credit issues, what else can they do? They're at the mercy of sharks like US Bank and Skylight Financial, obviously.
It should be noted that when the account is first opened, the ATM card that is provided for bank access does not bear the VISA or MasterCard logo; in fact, the account card for Starlight Financial can only be used at US Bank and their participating ATM's.
Then, lo and behold, one day - out-of-the-blue - Starlight suddenly offers up an ATM card with a VISA logo on its face...for an outrageous fee, of course!
And, if the consumer is capable of reading and comprehending the tiny fine print - and manages to decipher them - it becomes evident that the access charges and surcharges are so ludicrously high - that they border on being illegal, if not downright criminal, in nature.
And, as my friend found out last night, US Bank may not be providing the VISA card to Skylight Financial clients in an upright, legal manner which abides by their Bank charter, business licenses, or even State & Federal Laws, either.
For example, when VISA contacted U.S. Bank - which was the issuer, according to their records - US Bank was unable to verify the account status, or establish why my friend had been denied access to his account.
In sum, it appears that Starlight Financial is using U.S. Bank’s privileges as a registered Bank to facilitate the VISA logo, and that VISA International was never informed of the "shadowy" - perhaps illegal - business/banking arrangement.
In fact, when I spoke to Vice President of Consumer Relations - Lynne Cherry - she admitted that Skylight Financial isn't even a Bank. In addition, they appeared to be owned by another shady division of U.S. BANK, by the name of Elan Financial Services.
What a swirl of intrigue, eh?
After I spoke with Ms. Cherry, a U.S. BANK logo mysteriously disappeared from the Skylight Financial web site today.
Bottom line, it's all part of a master plan to rip off millions of poor unsuspecting Americans around the country, once they take the bait and walk through the deceptive "legitimate door" of a major Financial Institution - U.S. BANK.
Talk about a wolf in sheep's clothing!
I trust that investigations filed with the Thrift & Loan, the office of the State Attorney General, and VISA International, will uncover the fraudulent scam being perpetuated on innocent consumers and that - likewise - the key players will be prosecuted for their heinous financial crimes against the lower classes who can't fight for themselves in a scam of such byzantine proportions.
