Saturday, November 27, 2010

A Lesson Learned, The Hard Way

A while back, I was a victim of credit card fraud.  It was very frustrating and nuts.  Apparently, these people get their hands on a card number and see how far they can get.  First thing they do is sign up for one of these sites that charges $1.00 to get some music or a game etc.  If that goes through, they move onto other things.
 
It was seriously a mess.  It got close to identity thief, which is really scary.  I won't even go there.  These people had several of my card numbers.  Things were showing up at my door like colon cleanser, vitamins and such.  Very weird things.  The credit card companies said this is how they see what they can get away with.  Think about it, they had my credit card numbers, expiration dates and my address.  Not a good feeling at all.
 
Every time something showed up, I tried to return it, so it became a constant thing between merchandise companies and credit card companies.  The best came one day in the form of a volleyball net.  I went to the company's web site and it was worth $150.00, wow.  But, the thief messed up, he put HIS phone number in, so I had him.  He was local, so my thoughts are that he went through my trash.  Believe me, I've since gotten myself a shredder that I use like a fanatic now.  Make sure you shred those checks they send you to consolidate your cards, they have your account numbers on them.  AND, when I called the company, I got this customer service dude that every time I told him something, he had to check with his supervisor.  Um, how about just putting the supervisor on the phone?  Anyway, she claimed my credit card company was not handling this properly and I should hold onto the net.  I told her I was trying to do right by them because I will NOT pay for this, so they will be out the money and the volleyball net unless she lets me return it.  Her answer was, I'll have to get back to you.  She never did, so if anyone wants a volleyball net, please contact me.  It's just sitting in the basement collecting dust.
 
Anyway, the only way a credit card company would investigate is if you sign a form and agree to appear in court, if it gets to that.  I asked if I would know how this happened.  If it's a web site I went to, I want to know not to go back there.  Oh sure, you'll know, so I signed the papers and mailed them back never to hear for sure what happened except that they did investigate.
 
I found out the person went to Walmart.com and was able to charge $450 worth of stuff and had it sent to them, so now they are getting bolder.  Dell.com, however, refused the card, good for them!  Here is the absolute best, they opened an account on LifeLock!  If you don't know what that is, it's a company that guarantees you against ID thief.  Um, excuse me, but you just screwed up big time! 
 
It gets better.  There was a class action lawsuit against LifeLock.  LifeLock lost the suit.  Guess what I got in the mail today?  LOLOLOL, a check for the amount of $10.80 for my part of the settlement.  For the first time ever, I can honestly say I'll be laughing all the way to the bank!

3 comments:

Doodle said...

OMG, I can't believe that. Well, I really can. CC companies are nuts. You try to help them do their job sometimes and they still don't get it. I hope you have things all settled now - no debts, no merchandise, and all new cards!!??

Runs With Scissors said...

I think what amazes me the most is that people feel the need to do things like this. I don't care how bad things get or how lazy I might get, I could never rip people off. Plus, it's a lot of work these peeps go through to get your card numbers, wouldn't it make more sense to get a job?

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