Something to Consider
My draft account just got CLEANED OUT by a fraudulant / stolen card - they used the account number of an old gold card that had a bad magnetic strip which I cannot use - and I've replaced it with a platinum card pulling from the same checking account. When they issued the new platinum card I thought the bank cancelled that gold card .... but I guess they did not.
I noticed something wrong on sunday nite when a large transaction showed pending preceeded by a few odd $1 transactions. I routinely check my account - and these transactions immediately stood out. I went in to my local branch today to enquire as to my options on suspicious and/or disputed transactions... they said wait till they complete posting. One of the 3 transactions posted tonite as a FASHION ACCESSORY store in AURORA (NY). I called bank security and they isolated the sale to my old physically non-functional gold card. Odd.. eh?
So - they say when the other $1 transactions post then I can file to investigate and possibly/probably get my money back. Well - they said since the card used was recorded as replaced but not cancelled - and the business on the transaction is in NY while I'm in California - and since I have NOT used this card for several months they are very likely to restore the funds at the conclusion of the investigation. Who knows, eh? This should take only 3-5 buiness days. HOWEVER, If it should exceed 15 (or 10?) days to investigate then they will restore the funds to my account on a provisional basis. I am encouraged with the fortunate circumstances I have in expecting full recovery relatively soon.
They have cancelled my old gold card.
Alicia tells me she just read about how TJ Max and Mervyns recently had TWO YEARS of transaction records stolen! And that the thieves are working their way through the old records to steal from accounts. The article she read said the thieves "ping" the accounts with $1 transactions to see if they are active then go for hits of varying size - sometimes they try to sneak funds out slowly - and other times they go for the whole enchalada.
We've had friends who had large sums in their draft accounts (mid 5 figures and high 4 figures) - and the bank did NOT restore most of the funds. I can't say I know all the circumstances and fine details - but this sort of news makes me much more cautious. I've always maintained relatively small balances as a result of the prior knowledge of problems from friends - and now with this attempted theft - I am glad I worked to keep my balances modest. Doin' so has always been a bit of a chore... but now it may have saved me from risking more.
I think we'll NEVER know exactly how they got my old gold card account number. It is very curious that it was this particular account. However, in the next few days I'm going to have all my account numbers changed and passwords reset on everything. What a pain!
This is NOT the first time we've had account fraud attempted - and I find this continuing activity annoying to say the least! Maybe this news will help you avoid real losses some day.
I'll be traveling while juggling the Queen Latifah and Pagent of the Masters concerts this week along with swim practice and gymnastics ... and so on. Combined with the ongoing repair of my personal notebook - this obviously means I'll have minimal access to the web for a few days. I'll catch up (maybe) next week!
And on another note - I just repaired my external hard drive - WOO HOO - and I'll be combing thorugh my image archieves soon and maybe backing it up to a redundant (RAID) drive... that is once I acquire one! Which I'll be shopping for shortly!
With that I bid everyone a pleasant week and weekend!
), so I know how many years it's been. Then again, what man would divorce a Victoria's Secret model?...
At the end of the closing, my agent and I went to give the new owners the keys. The wife and I took one look at each other and we said, "I know you!" We did, she is a cashier at one of the gas stations I go to! Of couse I said, "Wow! It's a small world!" (Too much Disney on the brain!) Freaked everyone out.
I like laying out in the heat but not working in the heat.
You are a clever one, aren't you??
