Dingfod
01-19-2006, 04:23 PM
We kept a mess of credit cards (Mastercard, Visa, Discover, Home Depot, Phillips 66-Conoco-76, and the like) that we didn't normally carry on our persons in a zippered bank bag in the back of a desk drawer in our home office. The last time I looked in the bag was back in December after I got home from Wyoming when I put one of the cards I took with me in the bag.
When my wife got home from work Saturday night, she called me at work to tell me a credit card company had left a message about a fraud alert. First, I went online to their website only to find I was locked out, wanting me to call a toll-free number. I called it. After months of non-use, there had been four suspicious charges for small amounts of money on the card at gas stations, and one attempt for $330 at Walmart, all denied and the account locked. I knew these were fraudulent because this particular card hadn't been used at all in over a year.
When I got home Sunday morning I looked in the bank bag. All of the credit cards were gone, all of them. I got on the phone and contacted all the credit card companies. One other card had three charges totalling about $200 and then 4 other charges denied, including an attempt at getting $200 cash at the Cherokee Casino in Catoosa. I had set a notification limit of 3 transactions per day on this account when I set up my online access. Sure enough, there was an email notification of more than 3 attempts at using the card in my Inbox. Another card had 3 attempts, but the credit card company decided they were out of pattern for the account and denied all of them. None of the other accounts have had any reported activity.
I suspected our oldest daughter had a hand in it, at least in giving access to the person who did take them. She denies anything to do with it and suspects her now ex-boyfriend-of-the-moment because two of his friends were bragging Saturday night about having run up over $100 on some stolen credit cards. So, when I filed the police report last night, I gave them his full name and approximate address. The officer wanted the daughter to call him to give him more specific contact information. The officer didn't hold out much hope that anyone would be caught. Anyway, the ex-whatever is now persona non grata at Rancho Pobrecito. We don't deserve this.
By the way, we found out from the sheriff's officer that the thief we suspect stole our ATV last year is now serving a 27 year sentence in the state prison system for parole violation and for possession of stolen property. He awaits additional federal charges for a firearms violation (possession of a sawed-off shotgun).
When my wife got home from work Saturday night, she called me at work to tell me a credit card company had left a message about a fraud alert. First, I went online to their website only to find I was locked out, wanting me to call a toll-free number. I called it. After months of non-use, there had been four suspicious charges for small amounts of money on the card at gas stations, and one attempt for $330 at Walmart, all denied and the account locked. I knew these were fraudulent because this particular card hadn't been used at all in over a year.
When I got home Sunday morning I looked in the bank bag. All of the credit cards were gone, all of them. I got on the phone and contacted all the credit card companies. One other card had three charges totalling about $200 and then 4 other charges denied, including an attempt at getting $200 cash at the Cherokee Casino in Catoosa. I had set a notification limit of 3 transactions per day on this account when I set up my online access. Sure enough, there was an email notification of more than 3 attempts at using the card in my Inbox. Another card had 3 attempts, but the credit card company decided they were out of pattern for the account and denied all of them. None of the other accounts have had any reported activity.
I suspected our oldest daughter had a hand in it, at least in giving access to the person who did take them. She denies anything to do with it and suspects her now ex-boyfriend-of-the-moment because two of his friends were bragging Saturday night about having run up over $100 on some stolen credit cards. So, when I filed the police report last night, I gave them his full name and approximate address. The officer wanted the daughter to call him to give him more specific contact information. The officer didn't hold out much hope that anyone would be caught. Anyway, the ex-whatever is now persona non grata at Rancho Pobrecito. We don't deserve this.
By the way, we found out from the sheriff's officer that the thief we suspect stole our ATV last year is now serving a 27 year sentence in the state prison system for parole violation and for possession of stolen property. He awaits additional federal charges for a firearms violation (possession of a sawed-off shotgun).