Washington State
In 2000, someone from outside the U.S. bought parts from my sole proprietorship with a stolen credit card. Before shipping the merchandise, I called my merchant services provider to get an authorization for the charge. I got a verbal authorization that the pending charge for approx $3,200.00 was legit (ie: the address I provided matched the card's billing address). I also took down the authorizer's information (name, ext number).
The next month, the merchant provider tried to take the money from my bank account citing that the purchase was made with a stolen credit card. I contested this by giving them the information of the person that verbally authorized the charge. They denied this and said nobody by that name or extension number works at the company. I then closed the bank account so they couldn't take the money.
This morning, I had a voicemail from an attorney that represents this merchant company. He said there will be a summons of complaint delivered to my home later this week, and suggests that I don't ignore this matter any longer. He said I am responsible for the charges because I signed a personal guarantee when I began using this company for merchant services.
Am I truly liable for this fraud despite getting a verbal authorization for the charge?
In 2000, someone from outside the U.S. bought parts from my sole proprietorship with a stolen credit card. Before shipping the merchandise, I called my merchant services provider to get an authorization for the charge. I got a verbal authorization that the pending charge for approx $3,200.00 was legit (ie: the address I provided matched the card's billing address). I also took down the authorizer's information (name, ext number).
The next month, the merchant provider tried to take the money from my bank account citing that the purchase was made with a stolen credit card. I contested this by giving them the information of the person that verbally authorized the charge. They denied this and said nobody by that name or extension number works at the company. I then closed the bank account so they couldn't take the money.
This morning, I had a voicemail from an attorney that represents this merchant company. He said there will be a summons of complaint delivered to my home later this week, and suggests that I don't ignore this matter any longer. He said I am responsible for the charges because I signed a personal guarantee when I began using this company for merchant services.
Am I truly liable for this fraud despite getting a verbal authorization for the charge?