BALTIMORE -- Imagine looking at your checking account statement and finding a charge for $139 you didn't make. It's happening to people all over the country and authorities say a Canadian company is behind it.

A Baltimore-area woman, Sharon Sheckels, keeps a close watch on her bank statement. Last month, she discovered someone had taken $139 out of her checking account.

"I didn't authorize it," said Sheckels. "Nobody authorized it and they had no right to take it from me."

Sheckels called her bank, Provident Bank, and said she found out a company she never heard of -- Pharmacycards.com -- took her money.

"I was mad," she said. "Who did they think they were taking money out of my account?"

But Sheckels isn't alone. According to various consumer Web sites, many people across the country are complaining about Pharmacycards.com -- all claiming money was taken from their checking accounts without their permission.

But the company is almost impossible to track down. A Web site the company once operated has now vanished.

WBAL-TV in Baltimore turned up a copy of a letter from Pharmacycards.com to a potential customer. In it, the company claimed to provide a discount prescription drug program and listed many local pharmacies that allegedly participate.

The letter explained that if customers didn't opt out of the plan, they would automatically be charged. But Sharon claims she never got a letter and wants to know how the company got into her checking account.

WBAL-TV asked Charles Turnbaugh, Maryland's commissioner of financial regulation, how this could happen.

"What I think has happened here is that a phony company has been created," said Turnbaugh. "They've established a relationship with a bank either in Canada or the United States and send through the automated clearing house system requests that appear to be authorized by the customer."

The Federal Trade Commission will not confirm an investigation is under way but says it's well aware of the company.

"Certainly, we don't know if the company is still operating," said Chuck Harwood from the FTC. "I can say the complaints are still coming in."

Provident Bank refunded Sheckel's $139.

So far, no one can say how Pharmacycards.com got Sheckel's account information.

"Certainly, this shouldn't be happening," said Harwood. "In some point in the process, something got through the cracks."

And that leads to another challenge -- finding out what financial safeguards may have failed.

The best way to protect yourself and your money is simple:

• Don't write checks to strangers because your personal information can be used against you.
• Check your bank statements for any irregularities.
• If you become a victim, immediately contact your bank and the credit reporting agencies.
• Close the account so you don't get hit again.