A Chicago small business owner had to battle the Chase credit card fraud department over $40K in sham charges he believes came from a ghost vendor.
The developer hired a Canadian company, but their renderings didn't meet his expectations. He canceled the order and said he offered to pay them for their work, but he never heard back. Instead, he said he started seeing large charges on his Chase credit card with a different company name based in the same Canadian city.He believes someone fraudulently used the existing vendor accounts to set up fake invoices. The ghost merchant charged Benach's Chase account more than $40,000.
Benach said he even contacted the original vendor, who said they did not charge him. But Chase sent Benach a letter saying they closed his case saying the transaction was valid, and that "the transaction will remain."