I have been absent this week. Have I been busy shopping? Have I been busy decorating for Christmas? Have I been busy baking? The answer to all three of those questions is a resounding "yes." But that is not why I have been absent from the blog. Why then, you ask? Well, the answer is ...
Yes, fraud. Someone hacked into my checking account and basically took everything. When I stopped in at Starbuck's on Monday morning to get my usual, my debit card was declined. I asked them to run it again and, again, it was declined. When I logged on and checked my balance I was horrified. I immediately called the bank and filed a fraud report and we set about identifying the charges and having them reversed. They disabled my card and issued a new card. Thinking that everything was OK, I went on my merry way. This morning I discovered more fraudulent charges. So another call to the bank to report those. Very disturbing indeed. I have positively no way of knowing how someone gained access to my debit card number. But they did and it has made a mess of things this week. Please be vigilant. Guard your card(s) as best you can. My new debit card will have one of the new "chips" which supposedly make this sort of thing harder to do. But someone, somewhere is already devising a way to outsmart the new chipped cards. Of that you may be certain.
Yes, fraud. Someone hacked into my checking account and basically took everything. When I stopped in at Starbuck's on Monday morning to get my usual, my debit card was declined. I asked them to run it again and, again, it was declined. When I logged on and checked my balance I was horrified. I immediately called the bank and filed a fraud report and we set about identifying the charges and having them reversed. They disabled my card and issued a new card. Thinking that everything was OK, I went on my merry way. This morning I discovered more fraudulent charges. So another call to the bank to report those. Very disturbing indeed. I have positively no way of knowing how someone gained access to my debit card number. But they did and it has made a mess of things this week. Please be vigilant. Guard your card(s) as best you can. My new debit card will have one of the new "chips" which supposedly make this sort of thing harder to do. But someone, somewhere is already devising a way to outsmart the new chipped cards. Of that you may be certain.
