Bank Tells Oak Forest Man to Pay Up After He Reported Identity Theft

A checking account belonging to a 21-year-old Oak Forest man was compromised by someone who allegedly deposited bad checks and withdrew a large amount of money, according to police.

The identity theft happened between Aug. 2 and Aug. 7 but was reported to cops on Nov. 11, according to an Oak Forest police report. Two deposits, one in the amount of $2,431.39 and a second totaling $2,321.32, were made through an ATM in Niles by someone other than the account holder.

A few days after the deposits, withdrawals and purchases totaling $2,954.10 were made using the account, the report states. On Aug. 8, the account was hit with several fees for having insufficient funds after the two checks turned out to be bad.

The Oak Forest man went to Wells Fargo and notified them about the activity, the report states. He then received a notice from the bank that they had completed an investigation and were seeking $3,953 for charges on the account.

The victim told police that he could not have used the ATM card since it had expired in July and he had not received a new one before returning to school in Minnesota in June. The total amount he lost or is being advised to pay Wells Fargo is $4,752.71.

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