NEW YORK, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- The Better Business Bureau has been fielding calls about checks people are getting from a U.S. court, and is assuring callers the checks are legitimate.
The checks are part of a $150 million settlement Wachovia Bank entered into in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia in connection with a telemarketing fraud case, CNN reported Thursday. The Better Business Bureau says some of the calls are from people who aren't sure why they're included in the settlement.
"These checks are legitimate and consumers who receive them can safely deposit the check in their banking account or cash the check at a Wachovia branch," Tom Bartholomy -- president of the Better Business Bureau of Southern Piedmont in Charlotte, N.C. -- said in a statement.
Wachovia began Dec. 11 to mail checks to about 742,000 consumers, the U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said. The settlement agreement came in a case involving Wachovia's banking agreements with telemarketers to process payments for products ordered by telephone.
The court ordered checks sent to people who ordered products or services between 2003 and 2007 from one of the telemarketing firms involved in the case, paying with electronically created checks that did not require the signature of a customer.
Victims are also to receive a claim form that can be used to recover bank fees they may have paid if their accounts were overdrawn after unauthorized withdrawals.
