Wicked People...

While Claude and I crashed on Memorial (Monday, May 25th), someone was busy using my credit card. Well, not the card, I had that in my purse and Claude had his in his wallet.  However, the number was out there and someone was using it.  How this happens I do not know.  It has happened once before several years ago.

I received a text message on my cell phone on Tuesday, May 26th stating it was from our credit card company with concerns over a charge. They wanted to confirm we made the charge.  Claude was in a training meeting all day.  I forwarded the text to him.  He thought it might be him but was not sure about the amount.  I did not respond as I was not entirely sure it was not a hoax.

Later in the day I received another text stating there were now two charges in question.  Hmmmm...  

I got home that evening and checked my credit card activity on line.  I found five other charges we did not make.  Claude checked the copies of our charge receipts and none matched these.

I called the credit card company and reported the events and included the additional charges.  When I asked if they could tell me where the charges were made, they said in Wyoming and Florida!!!  Man, I would love to have traveled to those places but really had not fit that into our schedule at all.

My credit card was canceled.  A new one will be issued.  The charges will be reversed and all should be set straight for us in a week or so.  

I am grateful that the credit card company does a profile of us and our spending.  Both times this has happened they have contacted us with the first 2 or 3 charges so nothing major has happened.  It is a huge inconvenience to switch cards but not nearly as bad as it could be in this situation.  Others have suffered so much with identity theft.  

I truly do not get the desire to wreck peoples lives.  With all the energy expended doing that they could have held a job and earned their own money.  Really, it takes someone to do the stealing, someone to set up whatever phoney business they have to use the card information, and then someone on the other end willing to pay and use the card information.  Such effort expended to do something illegal.  

There.  Rant over.  Grateful and will be happy when the new card arrives so I can proceed with the changes I need to make on my end.