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Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

Over a year after an Amazon account was suspended. I had over $700 taken out of the bank account attached to it. A company sent me an message before the suspension demanding receipts and information because they thought I was selling cakes. I ignored it. Somehow they got a judgement against me and they levied the bank account.


I was using stealth info so they would have never been able to serve me with papers. I don't understand how they could get a judgement unless they can subpoena someone to go to court.

I was using an EIN for an LLC. The address that the IRS has for that EIN is my valid address, and I did not once get any mail from them.

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

Was the company called CAPs?

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

Interesting.

Can you elaborate with what the levi states?

Also, WHO exactly was the levi issued from and how did they determine damages?

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

so odd that they could determine restitution without the judge having any sales numbers. Doesn't even make sense

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

I don't know anything, they gave me a contact person at the company. It is Wacom

I'm afraid to call or get an attorney involved because I don't want to provide my identity and have them go after my personal banking accounts.

Even though I had an LLC I was using a personal account for disbursements . I have 5 bank accounts with the same bank, but the other accounts are not levied.

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

Actually, you should have been served with a summons, not a subpoena. A summons is issued when YOU are being sued. A subpoena is issued when they want you to come to court to provide testimony in a case (usually) not involving you personally.

In any event, you probably WERE served by what is known as "sewer service". An unethical person claimed you were served when you really were not. It happens all the time.

Some people asked how they could get a judgment? Easy. If you are sued and served but do not show up in court, the plaintiff gets what is known as a default judgment. That means since you did not show up to defend yourself, they gave the benefit of the doubt to the plaintiff and gave them what they asked for.

If you want to do anything about this, I would suggest getting an attorney first.

This sounds like a case of mistaken identity to me. My guess is that the LLC shares the name of a business that the plaintiff was going after and assumed that it was your company, when it could have been a d/b/a or corporation with a similar name. But since it has gone this far and since it would probably cost more than $700 to get an attorney involved AND because there are other issues here, I would just eat the loss and move on. The ONE THING I would check is the amount of the judgment. Because if it was $10k and they got $700, they could decide to try to pursue the LLC for the balance.

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

If serving the summons was bogus then my attorney should be able to get the money back? It could be worth the phone call. My attorney only charges about $80 to make a phone call and inquiry.

It is a legit thing, I did sell thier product and got an Amazon email from the attorney over a year ago demanding reciepts and sales history. I wonder if they subpena Amazon for the sales records

I did not for the LLC , only got the EIN, I wanted to make sure the account would stick, but it didn't so I did not follow through

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

"The ONE THING I would check is the amount of the judgment. Because if it was $10k and they got $700, they could decide to try to pursue the LLC for the balance."

Could they pursue me and my personal assets since I did not form the LLC?

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

My advice would be call Wacom and ask for details. I see Wacom sell computer stylus etc,are these goods you were selling. I find it hard to believe that amazon would hand over your bank details to third party also. Just call, withhold your number and ask for the legal dept. I would ask for details were the court action took place and the case number, then call the court. Also at the beginning of the conversation state " I am speaking without prejudice" then if the call is recorded they cannot use the tape.

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

you can look up cases filed by that company

https://www.rfcexpress.com/lawsuits/


This a public database of all the court cases filed

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

Yep, I found it there. Looks like they sued 25 Amazon sellers. The defendant name on the suit was my ⊗⊗⊗⊗ stealth name, not my LLC. So it looks like this was a sewer summons. They couldn't have served an imaginary person. I think this may be worth pursuing with my attorney

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

They said they issued the summons by mail, can they do this? It was a ⊗⊗⊗⊗ name so obviously Joe Blow couldn't have signed for it. Can a summons be given via certified mail. The address they had was some strip mall and I just added a suite number.

2/7/2014 Summons(es) issued via U.S. Postal Service as to defendant(s) Applebox, Martin Balog, Bethtown Store, Bing Bang Boom, Buy at Wholesale, ChargeWorld, Deal With Us, Inc., Yonathan Englard, Mu Wen Juan, Shaanan Lett-Smith, Victor McDougal, Miele's, Rachelle Owens, PK Ventures, Ralph Popham, Quaver, Xu Rui Rui, Kulap Simonis, Simulstore, Specialty Warehouse, TechWave, Simon Trent, Truncate Home, Jeffrey Winton, gotUcovered. (DJ) (Entered: 02/07/2014)

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

No signature required for a summons. Just a first class mail letter. If it is not reported, "Return to sender" it is considered served, at least in MA.

With that being said, a bank Levi is an incredible judgment. They have there ducks in a row. I wonder how damages were determined? Anything stated about that?

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

No, I could not get any other information. Well if the judgement has already been rendered and a delivered certified letter was accepted then I am not going to waste my time and money with attorney fees. This does bring up an important point though, it's probably a good idea to have a stealth address that you can get mail to. You would want to know if you are getting sued so you can dissolve the LLC and close the bank account down. However, with Amazon I'm sure they notify Amazon and the account gets suspended before a lawsuit is filed.

I think it's safe to say that since the lawsuit was filed against the fictitious name that I don't have to worry about them taking money out of personal bank accounts. They must have subpeoned Amazon for the bank account number and sales records.

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

The court information said that it was suing my ⊗⊗⊗⊗ name, and my store name. Very weird they wouldn't look at the LLC info.

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

Evidently they did not have to Craziness.
:noidea:

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

Kelly,

Was $700 all you had in the bank account? (basically did they clean it dry) or was there additional funds in the bank account and they only took some fixed $700 restitution amount.

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

If I were you I would withdrawal cash from your accounts until you find out exactly what is going on. Because if they are after more funds than they will get them, your Bank account was a personal Account you said , so they know who you are , the question above is a good one " was there more than just $700 in that particular account or did they just take everything that was in the account?

It's strange that they just pulled the funds out of your account like that, usually they will get a writ of execution from a judge and they will just freeze the funds in your accounts, not just a specific account , they will freeze whatever you owe from all your accounts

They than give you like a Month to pay that amount back , so If you owed 5K and you had 5 bank accounts with $6000 total they would first freeze everything , and than the accounts would adjust within the first couple days and the bank would even hold money for legal fees that they need to pay because of this and than you will see the account adjust and the 5K would be on hold along with $500 for the bank legal fees and $500 May be freed up from that total of 6K

Than you have a month to pay that 5K and if you don't pay at that time than it goes back to the judge who will rule to take the funds

If you do pay, the bank waits until that month period is up and than they will free up your money minus the legal fees.

It's strange that they just took the money from your account like that, was it a direct charge from the company?

Usually no One would know what you had in your bank account except the judge and only with a judges order would the funds be froze or taken

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

The money is still there, I can see it online. I talked to the bank and they said there was a hard hold on the account I believe. They said no funds can go in or out. DMShark, I understand what you are saying, but the lawsuit was filed against the ⊗⊗⊗⊗ name and Amazon store name. So, I don't think they can get to the other accounts. However, you sound like you know what you are talking about and you got me scared now. Maybe I should bring this up with my attorney this week. They did just freeze the funds for now. So you are saying they will be going back to the judge to get permission to take it? Why wouldn't they have already froze my other accounts?

Also, If I do take it out, where am I going to put it? In a different bank? Can't they find out all the accounts I have money in from all banks?

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

Put it in a safe, seriously , it's the safest place for your money until you know what is going on, it's a bad feeling to go online and see your account all negative or funds being held and than you call the number the bank gives you and all they say us we accept visa, so if you gave no money and no credit cards your screwed

Don't get scared but don't think that it will go away , just know for this to happen it takes a lot of paper work , time and than a judges order to freeze the funds, and it also takes a judges order to unfreeze the accounts

I would go to your bank get as much cash as you can stash away now , I'd hit all my ATM limits, because from now to the morning when u get a hold of your attorney is a long time and a lot can happen

Everything can get straightened out but you need to take care of it

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

DMshark25 doesnt look like OP can get money out?

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

That one account.
He has others.

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

Yes, it'd just one account, the account that was getting SmAmazon disbursements. They other accounts are fine, but I have already started moving money out and will go to the bank to remove more. However, I can't just take everything out because I buy my products via PayPal. I will however change banks too for my PayPal. However, if they can freeze any account from any bank I'll be screwed. I cant just have cash and do money orders, there is no way I can run a business that way. I could use bank business accounts, but the problem their is when I have to pay myself. I heard it's a bad idea to pay for personal things with the business account and that the IRS can say you are no longer a business. Going to talk to the attorney tommorow. Won't get any sleep tonight. Worried

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

My question is if they went through a judge and all the paperwork in which name is all that paperwork under? ⊗⊗⊗⊗ name? Wouldn't the name on the bank account and any judge papers have to be the same so that judge knows it's that person's account? Or they didn't care and out the freeze either way, or found your real info, and if so how?

Also on another note, how much did you sell of their products for them to go through all of this trouble?

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

According to the website court info, it said Waco versus MY⊗⊗⊗⊗ Amazon name and vs My amazon store name. So I'm thinking legally the judgement was against the ⊗⊗⊗⊗ name and the judge just approved the freeze on the account, wether they are able to also go after the bank account owner too I don't know, but your would think they would have to actually sue me to do that. Will talk to attorney on morning

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

It's just something that needs attention to, it could be as small as just that $700 they froze and that's it, the important thing is to find out, you could call your bank and they will give you a number to call also

And when you call they will,just tell you how much you owe, and if it is a small amount like only that $700 just pay them the money and that's it, they will need to send something to the Bank saying the Debt was paid and than the bank will wait until the dead line and than get an order from the judge to free up the funds in your account


If it is some huge outrageous number than u may want to get your lawyer involved, but either way call the bank they will tell u what happened and give u the number to call

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

In some jurisdictions, yes. It all depends on the local court rules

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

At this point, you REALLY need to speak with an attorney. Seriously, I'm not kidding.

I do not know if they can go after you personally for the judgment. It all depends on whether any fraud or crimes were committed and what your state law is.

If they CAN hold you personally responsible, then they will probably send an inquiry to the bank (it is called different things in different places) asking for any accounts with your name and SSN on them. The bank will have to respond, because this goes through the court, it is not just them asking as a private company.

At this point, I would not be as worried about getting the $700 back as I would be of them turning this case over to public prosecutor. Forgive me if my assessment is wrong, but it sounds like this company thinks you were selling counterfeits of their products and decided to sue you and some other Amazon sellers.

If the judgment was for copyright infringement, then I would have to imagine it is MUCH higher than the $700 they are holding. Selling ONE counterfeit can result in a $250,000 fine. If you sold a lot of these, the judgment could be in the millions of dollars. It all depends on what the judge in the case allowed.

They may or may not have gotten your bank account information from Amazon. There are companies that specialize in finding bank accounts for attorneys. Or, maybe they DID get the information Amazon had on file - it is POSSIBLE that they have your account number, but not your real name.

Freezing a bank account is easy. It is the next step, where they go to court and ask for the funds to be turned over that gets harder. The court MAY ask for a verification letter from your bank (they have to respond to the freeze with a notice advising how much money was frozen) and it MAY include your personal information. If the names are a mismatch, they could start digging. If they think you are selling their items on other accounts, be they at eBay, Amazon or anywhere else, they could go after them as well. They could also try to convince a government prosecutor to take the case as a criminal matter. Whether or not the government prosecutor would take the case, that I do not know.

But you DO seem to have landed yourself in a bit of trouble here and I recommend talking to an attorney to minimize the damage and protect yourself as much as possible. One thing is certain, they know you have money since they were able to freeze the $700, so they are NOT likely to go away.

Also, I just want to mention that just because money is frozen, it does not mean that it will be turned over. In most areas, there is a "personal exemption" on the funds in your bank account. It ranges from $500 up to $5,000 or more. In Cook County, Illinois, it is $3,000, to give you an example. If you or your attorney go to court to contest the turnover, you can claim your personal exemption and have the funds released that way. But again, the trouble you are in at the moment is bigger than the frozen money, so an attorney is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

I'm so depressed and upset, my life could be ruined. I will talk to the attorney in the morning.

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

Keep all of this in perspective. Are you in a bad situation? Yes. Are you in the worst situation that anyone has ever been in? No. Just talk to your attorney (be honest with them, they can't be very helpful if you lie) and see what they say. This could all blow over if handled properly. That is why you want an attorney.

Don't go out and buy that bottle of AstroGlide just yet...

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

Anybody can sue for any reason.

When I was younger I created a mini youtube site way before they or google exisited. You could download all the newest music vidoes from my server. I had 3 cable modems coming into a FTP server into my home LOL.

I changed the password every week and the way you would get the password is by signing up for one of my sponsor links. I would take a screen shot of the last page of the offer once you are confirmed to have signed up, blank out 2 words and that would be the user/pass for the server.

Well one of the advertisers found out and flipped the ****. My parents had no idea what I was doing untill they received a demand letter for 100k.

The main company involved said I was the cause for ⊗⊗⊗⊗ leads that hurt their relationships with their partners.

Besides not wanting to come home for a month nothing ever came out of it. My uncle was a lawyer and talked to them a few times but we never heard anything else from it.

I would not sweat it yet. you never know.

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

So far they froze $700.00 That may or may not be a lot of money to you BUT it is only money.
Don't worry about what you don't know. It only robs the joy and most things we worry about NEVER EVEN HAPPEN.
Keep cool and find out the details tomorrow.

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

I agree that he should not panic. But he needs legal advice at this point. They are not merely threatening a lawsuit, they have a judgment. So, he needs legal advice, not forum advice.

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

I really appreciate your guys information and trying to console me. If I was not on this forum I would not have done anything and just assumed they could only get that one bank account with $700. Please pray for me guys, my marriage could be over if this gets bad. I can not do this anymore, I am only going to stick with products I know for sure are legit.

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

Kelly, let get in in perspective.

Wacom have sued a company/person and many others by the sound of it from information amazon has given them.

The company that you are behind does not exist so therefore Judgement is worthless, they have frozen the bank account from information from amazon, they have not frozen $700, if there was $100k in there it would be frozen, its the bank account frozen.

My advice would be do nothing, in time they will try a secure the funds, this will go before a Judge who will look at the account name on the bank and the company being sued. He will dismiss their application as its mis matched.

If you start hiring an attorney at this time you are drawing attention to who the real owner is.

I would say Wacom a little chance of suing you personally as they have no evidence who the real seller is.

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

The attorney MAY advise that he do nothing. But if he does not take steps to protect himself, he could be in for a world of pain.

Trust me, the attorneys can find out who the real owner is easily enough. It would NOT be difficult to convince a judge to subpoena the bank records in this case. Everyone knows that if you want to find out who is responsible for something, you follow the money trail. Which leads right to Kelly411 at this point. Just because they do not have all of the pieces of the puzzle today does not mean that they will not have them tomorrow.

These people have a bank account that is attached to his real name. They sued him in court and obtained a judgment. It is dangerous to assume they will simply stop, regardless of whether or not the judge allows the funds to be turned over. The judge is probably NOT going to scrutinize the order to turn over the funds anyway. If nobody shows up to contest it, it is pretty much a rubber stamp process from there on.

Companies are becoming more and more aggressive when it comes to enforcing their IP rights. Nobody believes me until they get sued. Trying to hide and hoping it will simply all go away is not the best way to handle this.

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

The hearing for funds being handed over will more than likely be ex-parte decision.

Yes they could get a Judge to force the bank to hand over information, but if they know there is only $700 in the account are they really going to spend more dollars, maybe.

Yes, they can follow the money trail and then they have to start again with litigation, this is when you get an attorney involved IMO

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

I told my attorney my concerns about calling them and giving them anymore info. Micky, what you say makes sense, it gives me hope. It would make sense that they would have to issue a summons for a new suit if they are going after me because the judgement was for a fictional name. Even if they hot my llc info from IRS they should have filed it against llc.

I will continue to consult with an attorney, but right now I am thinking it would be better to move everything over into my spouses bank account and just close all personal bank accounts.

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

What you need to do is stop talking IN PUBLIC to a bunch of unqualified strangers.

jeffweico is correct.

You are in a bad place.

You need to resolve how to get out of that by consulting with a professional.

I hope you can consider this.

:peace:

Re: Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth
 

i think this thread in general needs to be move to private section to protect kelly. this is searchable in google and can easily be found, no?