I thought I would pass on a description of an interesting experience. We were just finishing clearing after Christmas Dinner and the phone rang. The caller ID indicated Card Services and we didnt pick it up. It rang again the next morning with the same ID, I considered ignoring it but didnt. It was a robot system but instead of trying to offer me a card, it turned out to be the BofA card fraud division. I flagged for a human operator, I refuse to talk to a machine, and a charming woman started asking me about a series of purchases made after the 21st of December.
As the card has been used four times in the last six months, card fraud thought it was odd when six small purchases were made in four days. Purchases for a variety of things all from online companies, I will get a detailed statement in a week or so; total dollar value just over $66.00, not too big a deal. At the suggestion of card fraud, and my insistence, the card was cancelled; a new card and account will be issued, fraudulent charges disallowed, and I will receive a statement to look through and acknowledge the legitimate charges. It helped that I could tell her the approximate balance as of my last payment and statement. Story over, right? Wrong!
On the 27th I got a call from yet another online company. They wanted to let me know my order of luxury diet products was delayed by my credit card being denied, was there another card I would care to use for the purchase? This was where the incident turned bizarre. The shipping address was my home, this matches the address the card was issued to, and I always use a secure private mail address for purchases. The dollar value of my latest purchase is over $500.00. I dont know who might have cracked the card but the shipping address for a postal delivery implies one of my neighbors might be involved. A statement wasnt received a few months ago; perhaps it was stolen from the mailbox. It wouldnt take a lot to swipe a box off my porch if delivered during the day.
I plan to redirect all sensitive mail to the secure address in the future and install a security-locking mailbox. My advice is to do the same, also dont use bank debit cards for online purchases and get a private mail service to receive everything. ID theft is just to big a pain in the A$$. I still need to file a police report in advance of correspondence with BofA Card Services. The fun isnt over.
Da Bianhua
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