Thousands of Dollars Fraudulently Drained out of Dacula Couple's Saving Account

A Dacula, Ga. couple is facing the loss of thousands of dollars after money was fraudulently removed from their Suntrust savings account.

The Hamilton Mill couple contacted Gwinnett Count Police on Dec. 11 to report the $8,600 theft. The money, according to the wife, was removed from their account via an internet transaction. The wife noticed the discrepancy on Dec. 10 and contacted the Suntrust fraud department. The account was subsequently frozen.

The couple advised they do not know how their account was compromised.

The case is listed as active.

According to a statement on the Suntrust website, the bank has implemented a number of online and offline security measures to protect customers. The bank also offers the following fraud and identity theft prevention tips:

• Don’t ignore address change notifications. If you receive a notice and you didn’t change your address, call SunTrust immediately. This may be an attempt to take over your account and divert statements or other account material.
• Notify SunTrust if you do not receive a statement or bill on time to make sure the address has not been changed or your bill has not been stolen from the mail.
• Go paperless—online statements cannot be stolen out of your mailbox or lost in the mail. Additionally, SunTrust offers 18 months of statements online.
• Keep your address and telephone number current with SunTrust and other creditors, even if you don’t have a balance. This makes it easier for us to reach you quickly if there is an unauthorized attempt to obtain credit in your name.
• Accept and return calls from SunTrust as soon as possible regarding questions about a recent loan application, card transaction or a check you wrote. This will help us establish whether the transaction is legitimate.
• Don’t ignore collection calls for debts you don’t owe. If you don’t have a loan with a creditor, an identity thief may have used your name and personal information.

• Thief Uses Dacula Woman's Identity to Open Multiple Credit Accounts
• Student Arrested for Having Weapon on School Property
• Woman Says She Was Robbed in Driveway of Her Dacula Home
• Liquor, 500 DVDs, Medicine, Jewelry and Other Items Taken During Recent Burglaries
• What to Do if You Think You Are Being Followed
• Man Armed With Handgun Accused of Following Teen Home From School

Want to be notified each time a new Dacula crime article is posted? Go to the Dacula Patch crime page and click on "Get email updates." Have information to share with the community regarding criminal activity? Post a crime alert.