SPEAK OUT
If you have been ripped-off by a company called (THE) STRONG BUCKS/MAZUMAH then send me an email telling your story and I'll post it on the blog here. Include the state your account is in so I can try and track which states are being hit. This will become a storehouse of stories that will hopefully be used one day to take these people down. All personal information with the exception of your first name will be removed before it is posted here.
strongbuckssucks@gmail.comFeel free to point your bank to this site when disputing your check. The more even local banks know how wide spread this is the better off everyone will be.
Basically you are going to need to close your account.
I also strongly suggest you read THIS post that tells you how to contact and file a grievance with the FBI.
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE PERPITRATORS
At least one of the accounts of deposit is a BANK OF AMERICA account.
The account is under the name: The Strong Bucks, Mazumah, Sabawa, eSafe, Inc.
The account numbers of deposit seem to be: 07250 41512, 07070 06065.
The memo line generally reads: "Monthly Sub Jan-May"
The Check numbers are in the 30,000 range, but have been known to simply be in the 3000 range. A few, like myself, were in the 200 range. Mine was 218.
The Thieves have obtained names, account and routing numbers from all victim accounts. They do not seem to have obtained home addresses (these are either missing or wrong). These "checks" have typed signatures because they are purported to be checks generated from "Internet purchases". I've never met anyone who purchased something off of the Internet by providing their checking account and routing numbers.
Wed, Apr 23, 2008 at 6:54 AM
Ripped Off AGAIN in NEVADA
My account was hit by the Strongbucks fraud in July of 2007. The FBI did contact me about the Strongbucks fraud.
Now on 4/10/08 I was hit by eSafe Inc. in the amount of $19.95.
The only link I see is possibly that I have a GreenZap account and a PayPal account. I requested that Greenzap be closed and no one from GreenZap will contact me.
This of course means that I will have to close my business account and all related auto deposits and debits will have to be notified. AGAIN
What a hug waste of time and effort.
-Julie
The above post was copied directly from the e-mail sent in. Personal identifiers were removed.
Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 9:18 PM
Strongbucks... and now "eSafe Inc"
eSafe is related to mipayments or to whoever it is that has all of our checking account numbers and routing numbers.
Over the last 12 months I had a total of almost $500 withdrawn from my checking account via various small amounts via remotely created checks. They all lead back to mipayments as the company that did the withdrawls under names sabawa, mazumah, initabill and kh&c. I called the voice mail number at 706-755-9345, they called back, told me they were deleting my account at mipayments and that my bank account would not be charged again. They sent me a refund check which bounced and I later found out (by checking with a local Bank of America branch) that mipayment's Bank of America checking account was flagged and that I could not have cashed their refund check even if the account did have enough money in it. The voice mail number that I called back in Feb 2008 is now no longer in service.
Fast forward to 4/18/08 and I discover a $19.75 debit from my bank account from "eSafe Inc eSafe Inc". So I googled "eSafe Inc" and found website
http://www.mycoupons.com/boards/cafe-tc/896435-anyone-ever-here-esafe-inc.html
where people were reporting bogus checking account withdrawls from eSafe and they were mentioning ties to GreenZap (I did have a GreenZap account at one time too). They listed some voice mail numbers to call: 760-705-2546 and 866-925-1969. (They mentioned an email too, esafecards@yahoo.com) I called both of the voice mail numbers (they both play the same voice message), and both had the same voice of the guy I spoke to back in Feb 2008 related to the *other* voice mail that is now out of service.
I believe they use the eSafe name just to throw people off, because that name is the name of another ligitemate company eSafe Cards. Also, with the esafecards@yahoo.com email, that is an email made up by the bogus company. The real eSafe Cards company wouldn't have a yahoo email address.
My belief now is that mipayments sent me a refund check to appease me, and used that as a delaying tactic. I'm sure they were more than happy to send me a refund check because they knew I could never cash it! They hoped that after the check bounced that I would get frustrated and forget about trying to get my money back.
So be careful of "eSafe" now too.
Yeah, and realize that if your checking account was hit by any of the company names mentioned in this strongbucks blog and you don't close your account, consider it open to future withdrawls by new company names that are created by whoever still has all of our checking account numbers and routing numbers.
Name withheld, but Ripped off in PA
The above post was copied directly from the e-mail sent in. Personal identifiers were removed.
Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 12:29 PM
Ripped off in Maryland
I just balanced my checkbook last night, and it came through as a $19.95 direct debit via the name eSafe, Inc. I have disputed the charge with my bank, but it will take up to 120 days to get the money refunded into my account.
-Susan
The above post was copied directly from the e-mail sent in. Personal identifiers were removed.
Fri, Apr 4, 2008 at 7:53 AM
subject SABAWA Fraud
Thank you for your info! So far I've had 3 checks come through (not even in my check range!). All checks have been for $19.95. Going to my bank today to see what to do.
Tracy in PA
The above post was copied directly from the e-mail sent in. Personal identifiers were removed.
