stolen checking account

I'm not entirely sure where this belongs, so if I posted wrongly, please pardon me. I have a friend who is having checks (one a month at the moment) used used on line for what we assume is for porn memberships. It's 36 dollars each month. I am no where near a expert but felt somehow a person has gotten into his system or maybe his banks system to obtain the information. All he can trace it to is a hotmail account at the moment. I gave him what I thought was good advice at the time and promised to try to get more. So far I told him to call his bank and set it up so he has to give them written permission to cash a electronic check (some banks do this if not all) and to search for a domain or phone # to try. he was wanting to send a email to the individual hoping for a response so I could get the IP and work from there. I have the knowledge to do this but want to leave that for last resort. Any other ideas short of changing the checking account over to a new one?

he/she should immediatley notify the bank... in most cases- the bank will attempt to prosecute/find the perp. besides that not much you can do, but make sure to clear it up with the banks...

thanks. not sure why this thread is negative on one reply, but thanks anyway. I'm assuming he'll discuss the matter when he sets up the written permission.

I have a couple of guesses.

1: Someone is already in his system and has retrieved his banking info from when he used it online.

2: He has signed up for some service online and has given out his account and routing info. I once saw a scam using an online music service that asked for this information for a monthly music download service....they gave you kazaa light and some other free software for a monthly fee and you could download all the music you wanted 'legitimately'.....yeah, right.

3: Someone may have stolen some mail and is having a little fun at his expense.

Any way it goes, it might be advisable to simply check his machine for any type of trojan, get him a firewall, etc. And then maybe have the bank set him up a new account and transfer his funds over.

Didn't know about the on line scam thing, thanks. I had him install sygate, which I have asked before if this is a sufficiant firewall but never got any answers back. I use it on a cable connection and have been very pleased with it. thanks for your input!

Please see this tutorial on Identity Theft.

Since he is already a victim, I would strongly suggest contacting some of the people towards the bottom of this tut. If they think your problem is more checking fraud, they will have some good advice for you. Good luck on this matter.

I’m not seeing where your friend has told the bank that this is an unauthorized withdrawal or any mention of the authorities being notified. What’s up with that?

Why do you say it’s a porn site? There are many different services that one can get charged for both on-line and off line.

How many people use an ATM card (or credit card) to buy a cup of coffee at a convenience store punch in their pin number while many may be watching then throw the receipt with their account number on it in the trash on their way out the door. or like Juridian said lweave their mail in an unlocked mail box. Then when something like this happens its ‘hackers’.

I guy I work with signed up for a trial membership at a porn site. He had no intention of joining or paying them anything but they began billing him monthly. It took him quite a bit of effort and time but he managed to get his money refunded. I don’t know the steps he took but I could find out if needed. Im not saying this is the case here but if my co-worker can get his money back when he was involved (some what) theirs no reason why your friend can’t when he’s not involved using the same methods

Honestly, it doesn't sound like his checking account was "stolen" as you say. Most likely he signed up for something at some point (maybe a three-day trial to a site) and is now getting billed from that site. His bank statement should show where the funds are going (it usually has both a tracking number and a short statement describing who the funds are going to. With that information, you can either call the person the funds are going to yourself, or contact your bank and inform them of the problem. More than likely, you will be able to cancel whatever recurring charges there are, as well as, if all goes well, receive a refund of the money if it turns out that your friend truly had no knowledge of the transactions.

AJ

No, he hasn't notified the bank yet, he was wanting me to do some "hacking magic" . The reason we are thinking it's porn is because he doesn't get anything in the mail which he usually gets if he makes a purchase on line. But basically, it was just a guess. But he never uses his checking account on line, just a single credit card. He does check his checking and savings accout on line every week, which threw up a red flag to me. Thanks for all the suggestions and questions. It makes me think in a wide scope of what could be happening.

if you wait to clear things up with the bank, it can only get worse.... believe me, the bank/police will have much better/physical ways of dealing with these things...
call the bank now :)

Dont get me wrong. I've been down that road with hackers/ripoff artists, or whatever you want to call them. I DO want to do this legally. I called him a few minutes ago to make sure he called the bank, which he has. I tried looking for a "internet" law for this, but haven't found what I'm looking for yet. Back to "god bless" google for the night. Again, thank you all for your suggestions. Dopeydad, excellant link, I keep seeing something new each time I read through it.