I don’t check my bank statements as often as I should, but today I was shocked to discover an auto-pay charge by an entity that I didn’t recognize — in fact, there were two charges per month, going back to May 2017! The payee was DEPARTMENT OF WA ABP-BWS. Google said it was the Washington Department of Health, for which I have no account.

Panic ensued. Who was charging their health charges to my bank account? I contacted my bank immediately, and the representative said I should close my account immediately because it appeared to be fraudulent. But I decided to dispute the charges, so the bank representative carefully began listing each charge amount and date.

When the bank supervisor was reviewing the list for final submittal, the supervisor said, “I think this looks like a water bill!” A lightbulb went on in my head! Do I have any department of water bills for the months after May 2017? No! The department of water had changed its billing name to something that I could not recognize.

How many other customers have had a panic attack because of this? The bank representative understood and hung up graciously after 45 minutes’ wasted time, hers and mine!

Note to The DEPARTMENT of WA — please change your billing name back to DEPT of WATER!

Amy Muramatsu

Pukalani