FRAUD

Yesterday we realized we were victims of credit card fraud. We had just signed into our credit card account online to check on something since we were going to book our trip to Disney World (we have a Disney rewards Visa and get certain benefits and such). Imagine my surprise when I see our balance (our only debt that we are busting our asses to pay off), and I also see over $3,600 in pending charges.

Now, the last time I used my card was at the post office on Thursday, and looking at our transactions, that had already been posted to our account. The last time Mike used it was for gas, which also posted. I knew right away something was not right, so Mike got on the phone immediately.

The customer service rep starts naming off these pending transactions - 2 transactions for some tshirt place, Sharper Image. I'm talking purchases that were $500-$600 each. He didn't go further than that before he transfered the call right over to the fraud department.

Our account was immediately closed, the transactions were flagged as fraudulent and we were told that we'd be issued entirely new cards/account and that if any of these charges appeared on any statements that we were to disregard them as we were not responsible. (Thank Goodness!!!!)

However, let me go back a couple weeks. Mike looked into switching our cell phones to Verizon. He called, spoke to a representative and went over everything we'd need, etc etc. Got a quote (which they took his credit card for -- I told him later that I thought that was strange -- but he figured it was for a "credit check" of sorts), and decided against switching at that moment.

We attempt to use our credit card a day or two later to get gas, and it declines. We have plenty of available credit, it's paid on time, and this is the only card we ever use. So I called. I was prompted to answer some security questions (asking if I recognized some attempted charges) and I was transfered to a rep. They explained that there were authorizations to the card from Verizon Wireless, and as she's looking through, she's counting them .... "Yes, there are 25 attempts" .... WHAT?!? So that's why our card was declining -- our credit card company froze the account because all those attempts raised a "red flag".

I should have known better at that moment and had them close to account, but no charges actually went through (they were all "authorizations", but had not actually gone through or been posted).

So, my immediate thought when we find out about all these bogus charges -- I know who did it.

We did some leg work of our own - got some information from one of the companies that some charges were made to. Got the person's name and address of where the merchandise is being shipped to. Mike knew from speaking with the Verizon rep that he was in PA, and oddly enough, the address the merchandise is being shipped to is right in MA (not far). Too many similarities for me to just consider this a coincidence.

We filed a police report with our local authorities and Mike spoke to a detective in MA as well. The officer who came out to our house to file the report said that unfortunately, credit card theft/fraud happens all the time, and it can be a long process.

All I know is that I'd like whoever did it to suffer the consequences. My husband and I don't both work full time jobs, busting our butts, for someone else to buy tshirts, posters, CDs and God only knows what else, with our money. If you can't afford the luxuries you'd really like -- too bad. That's life. It doesn't give you the right to steal from someone else.

Grow up, get a job, and get a life.