SANTA MONICA—ePassporte may be out of business, but it is still needs to resolve the account balances of untold numbers of account holders who are unable to retrieve funds in their ePassporte Wallets. The company posted a message to its website yesterday with updated information about how to accomplish that. The company refers all Visa Virtual Card questions and issues to St. Kitts Bank.
The new message states that the company is receiving "a large number of fraudulent requests and are working with a small staff to review accounts manually." The message further notes that people should no longer try to contact Gregory Elias and United Bank, in Curacao, which it says are "no longer employed or contracted by ePassporte."
The company also says, "Please expect a definitive date for wallet wires to go out on or before October 18th."
The message says ePassporte is still trying to "sort through the many issues with the Bank and Visa as well as our Fraud Prevention System”—this more than a month after its Visa privileges were suspended, reportedly due to a request by St. Kitts Bank to Visa. No party has yet attempted to broach an explanation for the implosion of a company that was in business for about seven years. EPassporte, in a message announcing its closure Oct. 4, mentioned "circumstances beyond our control" for one of the reasons it closed its doors, but offered no further clarification.
The ePassporte message is, in full:
Dear Account Holder:
St. Kitts Bank has announced that Visa Cards have been reactivated and funds are available to be withdrawn as of today. If you have funds on your Virtual Visa Card, please use your Visa Electron Card at ATM.s or Points of Sale Merchant locations. You can also use your Visa Virtual Card for online purchases. If your card is not working or you require assistance with the funds on your Visa Card, please contact SKNANB at https://www.sknanb.com/message.htm.
If you have funds on your ePassporte Wallet Account, we kindly ask that you direct all correspondence to one address: [email protected]. Please be patient with us during this time as we have encountered a large number of fraudulent requests and are working with a small staff to review accounts manually.
Dozens of emails are being sent to individuals no longer employed or contracted by ePassporte, to Mr. Gregory Elias and United Bank and none of these individuals can answer your requests. More importantly, your requests will not be forwarded to ePassporte. It is extremely important all wallet related inquires are sent to [email protected].
Please expect a definitive date for wallet wires to go out on or before October 18th.
Once again, we regret the inconvenience and problems not having access to your funds has caused. We are working diligently to get this resolved. We ask for your continued patience as we sort through the many issues with the Bank and Visa as well as our Fraud Prevention System.
Sincerely,
ePassporte
