Friday, November 16, 2007

Stolen Credit Card

I hate opening the credit card bill. Yeah, I know what's in there - we're pretty good about keeping track of that stuff. But I don't like the REMINDER of what we've spent our money on each month. So I, in true guy fashion, let Tina open it. I rationalize that since she pays the bills, she can review it - besides, if I charged something I didn't tell her about, she'll come to me, never worry about that.

But I knew this month was going to be unusually bad - vacations and work trips, etc. So I hesitantly opened it when I got home tonight. I saw all the suspects. But then a few I wasn't expecting.

Hmmm. Ok, so the first thing I do is try to think if there was something I ordered online that I just wasn't remembering. But I happened to also glance another line down and fail to recognize FIVE OTHER charges.

Crap. Someone's using our card.

I'm on the phone with our credit card company in a matter of seconds. By "on the phone" I really mean "on hold"... where I sat for 20 minutes - long enough for Tina to arrive home and find me fuming on the couch.

When a customer "service" rep finally answered, it was like talking to someone who was on their first night on the phones. Now, I'm sorry, but you should know better than to put that new of a person (or that untrained of a person) on the fraud line. Not to mention the 20 minutes where I was sitting there wondering if this was the quickest response they could possibly muster for calls coming in to tell them about stolen credit cards.

So my short fuse bottomed out and I asked for a supervisor. Another 10 minutes on hold and I got a pleasant woman - who now wanted to REVERIFY my personal information. [I've written before about the problem I have with call processing systems and the fact that they should EASILY pass along my "personal information" to the rep... and even if they have to verify it once, they shouldn't have to do it again.]

But I gave them the info and then explained that I had six charges that weren't ours. I said I knew approximately where and when the card numbers were swiped based on the locations of the charges. So we systematically went through them all. Then we canceled the current card and had a new set express shipped.

Next up? Calling the police in the location where the cards were used. Long story short, I have a feeling that the thief is getting a visit from the local PD tonight. Serves them right - for being so stupid as to use the credit cards to pay their bills - charges that have their name associated with each charge. Phone, electricity, cable, insurance, and the obligatory Rent-A-Center charge. What a dumbass.

But hey, at least the credit card company has already credited our account. And yes, for those of you paying attention, Apple now knows to bill another account so that I still get my MBP on time. ;)

However, all of this is a real pain. I still have at least 2 other recurring charges I have to manage to track down and change. I still have to follow up with the po-po in the next few days... and I have to research the civil laws of the state where the fraud actually happened to see if I have any recourse other than to assist their prosecutor in a criminal case.

What a waste of a Friday night.