It appears throughout my business travels I have become the victim of a form of identity theft. I remember sitting in the airport, after my flight had been delayed for two hours, realizing I forgot my American Express card. So, I called my bank to transfer money since all I had was my debit card. The balance in my checking account seemed a little low but I was semi-delirious and didn't really think anything of it so I just made a mental note to check it once I returned from Orlando.
The alarm went off when we checked the mail this past Monday and there was a envelope from my bank that resembled an insufficient funds notice (there was a time a couple of decades ago that I got those all the time!) so I rip open the envelope and it's a notice saying they tried contacting me via e-mail but the message was returned undeliverable. I'm thinking why are they trying to contact me. . .so I call and check my balance. . .it's really low so I listen to the transactions that have cleared and the first cleared item threw up a red flag. I press zero to speak to a representative while simultaneously checking the transactions on line.
Someone has gotten my debit card number and charged $636 within a three day period at the most random places. They paid their T-Mobile bill, ordered some movies from Comcast, $200 for flowers, $200 at some bar, and the purchase of eyeglasses.
The bizarre thing is that I actually have my card, this has never happened before and I am super cautious about when & where I use my card. I never even use it online. So, apparently the last time I went out to eat someone jacked my number. Now I'm thinking I might need to just start taking the AMEX card and paying it off at the end of each month. Because I think I was extremely lucky that this sorry bastard didn't charge more or put me in an extreme financial bind.
But what's really crazy about this entire thing is that they were able to use my number in person at most of these places. . .they had to have a connection at these places. I don't think I could go to Chili's or Macy's or Eyemasters and say, "Oh, I don't have my card but here's the number" I wonder if they duplicated my card?? That settles it I'm carving a hole in my mattress! Why are people so damned devious?!?!? If they would only use their evil powers for good!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Jack Move
It appears throughout my business travels I have become the victim of a form of identity theft. I remember sitting in the airport, after my flight had been delayed for two hours, realizing I forgot my American Express card. So, I called my bank to transfer money since all I had was my debit card. The balance in my checking account seemed a little low but I was semi-delirious and didn't really think anything of it so I just made a mental note to check it once I returned from Orlando.
The alarm went off when we checked the mail this past Monday and there was a envelope from my bank that resembled an insufficient funds notice (there was a time a couple of decades ago that I got those all the time!) so I rip open the envelope and it's a notice saying they tried contacting me via e-mail but the message was returned undeliverable. I'm thinking why are they trying to contact me. . .so I call and check my balance. . .it's really low so I listen to the transactions that have cleared and the first cleared item threw up a red flag. I press zero to speak to a representative while simultaneously checking the transactions on line.
Someone has gotten my debit card number and charged $636 within a three day period at the most random places. They paid their T-Mobile bill, ordered some movies from Comcast, $200 for flowers, $200 at some bar, and the purchase of eyeglasses.
The bizarre thing is that I actually have my card, this has never happened before and I am super cautious about when & where I use my card. I never even use it online. So, apparently the last time I went out to eat someone jacked my number. Now I'm thinking I might need to just start taking the AMEX card and paying it off at the end of each month. Because I think I was extremely lucky that this sorry bastard didn't charge more or put me in an extreme financial bind.
But what's really crazy about this entire thing is that they were able to use my number in person at most of these places. . .they had to have a connection at these places. I don't think I could go to Chili's or Macy's or Eyemasters and say, "Oh, I don't have my card but here's the number" I wonder if they duplicated my card?? That settles it I'm carving a hole in my mattress! Why are people so damned devious?!?!? If they would only use their evil powers for good!
The alarm went off when we checked the mail this past Monday and there was a envelope from my bank that resembled an insufficient funds notice (there was a time a couple of decades ago that I got those all the time!) so I rip open the envelope and it's a notice saying they tried contacting me via e-mail but the message was returned undeliverable. I'm thinking why are they trying to contact me. . .so I call and check my balance. . .it's really low so I listen to the transactions that have cleared and the first cleared item threw up a red flag. I press zero to speak to a representative while simultaneously checking the transactions on line.
Someone has gotten my debit card number and charged $636 within a three day period at the most random places. They paid their T-Mobile bill, ordered some movies from Comcast, $200 for flowers, $200 at some bar, and the purchase of eyeglasses.
The bizarre thing is that I actually have my card, this has never happened before and I am super cautious about when & where I use my card. I never even use it online. So, apparently the last time I went out to eat someone jacked my number. Now I'm thinking I might need to just start taking the AMEX card and paying it off at the end of each month. Because I think I was extremely lucky that this sorry bastard didn't charge more or put me in an extreme financial bind.
But what's really crazy about this entire thing is that they were able to use my number in person at most of these places. . .they had to have a connection at these places. I don't think I could go to Chili's or Macy's or Eyemasters and say, "Oh, I don't have my card but here's the number" I wonder if they duplicated my card?? That settles it I'm carving a hole in my mattress! Why are people so damned devious?!?!? If they would only use their evil powers for good!
1 comment:
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Vee said...
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WOW!!! I hope you got that straightened out and got your money back!
that happened to my cousin in NY...her card was never out of her possession. She had used it a few weeks before at a restaurant and then she got a call from the bank saying that some person was trying to purchase a metro monthly farecard. my cousin not longer takes the train because she has her own car. She got her money back and luckily it was for something that did't cost much.
it's a shame what people do these days and it just may get worse with the way that the economy is! -
November 14, 2008 at 12:47 PM
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1 comment:
WOW!!! I hope you got that straightened out and got your money back!
that happened to my cousin in NY...her card was never out of her possession. She had used it a few weeks before at a restaurant and then she got a call from the bank saying that some person was trying to purchase a metro monthly farecard. my cousin not longer takes the train because she has her own car. She got her money back and luckily it was for something that did't cost much.
it's a shame what people do these days and it just may get worse with the way that the economy is!
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