Last Tuesday in reviewing my bank account transactions on line I discovered that there were several charges over the last several days from a business that I had never heard of.

I immediately clicked on the items to find out what kind of expense this was.  A hotel, restaurant, clothing store, gas station, what?   Usually that is listed in the detail as well as a phone number to call.  in this case I found nothing – no description of the type of business and no phone number to call.

I then searched the name of the business on the internet.  It was some kind of business that is designed to build up your credit history by repeatedly purchasing items for $350 or so at a time and paying for them.  it is called Fingerhut Fetti.

I knew immediately that I never had contracted with this business and that someone had hacked into my personal banking account.

What to do?   First, I called the fraud hotline at the bank.  Notified them, and got the process going to get the items reversed and the funds reimbursed to my account.

Second, the bank told me that I need to close my account to prevent further fraud.  Holy cow!!

Have I learned something over the days since about what is involved in closing an account.  Bottom line.  It is not an easy process.  It is terribly frustrating.  It requires unbelievable attention to detail.

Allow me to give you some sense of what is involved.

First, in order to close an account you have to come into the bank in person.  second, you also have to open a new account which also must be done in person.  all of which involves a bunch of paperwork and signatures.

The new account requires that checks be made up.  Producing the checks takes time and must then be sent by mail service to me.  Meanwhile I have no ability to write checks.

By closing the existing account it also cancels the debit card associated with the account – the card that you use for your ATM withdrawals and deposits.  The new debit card must be produced and then sent to me via some kind of mail service.  in the meantime I have no card to use for an ATM withdrawal.

On top of all this, the bank failed to apprise me of the fact that once the existing checking account is closed, any visibility to all the transactions that have occurred in the account over the last many months are wiped out, eliminated from your online banking.   This is important because I download my bank transactions to Quicken in order to prepare my taxes and my keep my personal and business accounting records.  It has been six months since I last downloaded my transactions to Quicken.  To have to enter every transaction over the last six months by hand into Quicken would be a monumental task – one that I do not want to do!

As if this was not enough, the real killer to having to close your checking account is what happens to all  monthly payments that you have carefully set up on auto pay.  And what happens to all the sources of income that are coming in each month on an ACH automatic basis.  The fact that you have just closed your account means that both the revenues and the expenses are not going to be happening without you reaching out to each and every vendor, revenue source with the information that one account is closing and another one is opening.

Not only do you have to reach out to each one of these businesses, institutions, and organizations, but you have to then follow whatever procedures they have for initiating a new account number for their auto pay.   And each one has a different procedure.  Some require a voided check be included in the application.  (a little tough to do when you have not received the new checks for the new account yet).  Some require forms to be printed, filled out, signed, scanned and emailed back.  Others require that the forms be notarized.  Some require that the forms be sent back via snail mail.

Some have notified me that after they have received the completed forms from me that it will take two months before the new auto pay will be effective.  This then raises the question of how this month’s and next month’s billings and obligations are going to be taken care of.

Talk about a real mess.  This is it.  you will be happy to know that I think I have completed every form necessary in the last several days, but it will remain to be seen when and how the new auto pays become effective.

After this effort, I am exhausted.  This is not a fun job for anyone.  It is particularly not a fun job for someone who has ADHD.  The need for attention to detail, the need for follow up are all way beyond what someone like me is normally capable of.

Sadly, the bottom line is that everything that I have outlined above has to be done.

Thank you for allowing me to share my misery with you.