You bastards!

Hey! 2 posts in 2 days! I'm starting to feel like a real blogger.

For those of you that are on Facebook, you may have seen that recently somone managed to steal my credit card number. Acutally, they managed to the the number on my debit/credit card tied to my checking account. My bank (Citizen's) called me on Monday to say they'd seen some unusual charges and wanted to verify them with me. It was quite obvious that they weren't mine.

The gentleman on the phone was very good. The caught the charges literally the day after they were made. He immediately cancelled that card and issued me another one. He even checked Ellen's card for fraudulent charges. Luckily, her number is different than mine so it was fine. However, now the real hassle begins.

The bank recommended I wait for the charges to hit my checking account. Apparently, because of the way that card works, they couldn't cancel the charges like a regular credit card. Today all of the charges posted. Those bastards hit me for over $2000! You can believe I'm hopping mad. I have some choice words but I'll be nice and not say them. Now, I have to go down to the bank and fill out a form to get my money back. Which will take up to 10 business days. Luckily I have overdraft protection on that account. But once I get my new card I THEN have to go and update some of my internet sites with that information. I have some automatic payments set up. Plus I'm going to be short money for a little while.

I did ask the bank person how they could have snagged my card number, since I'm very careful with it and don't use it online unless I'm sure of who I'm dealing with. He couldn't tell but suspects they hacked a company's database and got the card numbers. Many places like gas stations use 3rd party services as clearinghouses for their card transactions. In any event, it goes to show you can't be too careful. This is the first time someone's managed to access my financial information electronically and hopefully the last. Just gives me another reason NOT to have too many credit card numbers out there.

Comments

Jude said…
I'm so paranoid I won't even do online banking. Besides I figure if my computer is down then I'm screwed anyway.

That is a scary scenario for all of us. I'm sorry it happened to you and I'm glad your bank caught it right away. What sucks the most is that you're going to be short for awhile because of some jerk.
Julie said…
I've had that happen to me several times: twice with credit cards, once with my bank card (WaMu's computers had been hacked, believe it or not). It sucks, and I've hated it every single time.

Hope yours gets resolved quickly, and good luck with the homework - I'm reading a 600 page book on Vietnam this weekend around spending time with the kids since Amelia is home from college for a couple of days. :)
sydwynd said…
Jude: Looks like some non-internet database got hacked, like perhaps where I get gas. The bank has been great so far in helping me out.

Julz: Dang, that does suck. My bank may have my money early next week. Since they called me, much of the "leg work" is already done.

Hopefully you'll finde time to get the reading done and spend time with the family this weekend.

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