So, my other half's debit/visa card took a trip to Wisconsin without us this week.
As you can see by Itzl's concerned look, this group is for us to check in at to let people know we are alive, doing OK, and not affected by such things as heat, blizzards, floods, wild fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, power outages, or other such things that could keep us off DKos. It's also so we can find other Kossacks nearby for in-person checks when other methods of communication fail - a buddy system. Members come here to check in. If you're not here, or anywhere else on DKos, and there are adverse conditions in your area (floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, etc.), we and your buddy are going to check up on you. If you are going to be away from your computer for a day or a week, let us know here. We care!
We have split up the publishing duties, but we welcome everyone in IAN to do daily diaries for the group! Every member is an editor, so anyone can take a turn when they have something to say, photos and music to share, a cause to promote or news!
Ok, we have a current diary schedule. If you would like to fill in, either post in thread or send FloridaSNMom a Kosmail with the date. If you need someone to fill in, ditto. FSNMom is here on and off through the day usually from around 9:30 or 10 am eastern to around 11 pm eastern.
Monday: BadKitties
Tuesday: bigjacbigjacbigjac
Wednesday: Caedy
Thursday: weck
Friday: FloridaSNMOM
Saturday:broths
Sunday: loggersbrat
If you'd like to be part of the Itzl Alert Network, please leave a comment asking to join, or send us a message asking to join. We'd love to have you. The bigger our network, the less likely someone will be stranded all alone.
Tuesday FloridaSNDad got a voice mail from his credit union about potential fraudulent charges on his visa bank card. Someone tried to charge a pair of shoes and hotel stay on his card. In Wisconsin. They froze his account, because this was only about six hours after we'd used the same card in Florida to buy cold meds and supplies at the local Dollar General. Not that he had enough in his account to cover it anyway, I think he has like $2 in there right now. Thankfully they tried this towards the end of the month and not on the 3rd when his SSI comes in and our rent is still in the account.
So he calls the credit union back, and they explain why they froze everything. They've now canceled the card entirely and they're over-nighting us a new card, free of any charges or fees. Also, no over draft fees, no charges for anything whomever it is who stole his card number purchased, or tried to. We're hoping they can get images of whomever it was and catch them at it.
I don't know if someone skimmed the number locally or from a website, though I don't recall having purchased anything online this month at all. Maybe someone accessed Amazon or something? I think a local skimmer is more likely, though why it ended up in Wisconsin is anyone's guess.
This could have been really bad, if the credit union hadn't caught it and if we'd actually still had the rent in there. We know they didn't have the actual card, because we have it. Either they made a fake or they paid online for things, or over the phone.
This is the second time he's been the victim of something like this. The last time they stole his entire identity and bought a house in Alabama! That one took a couple of months to clear up because we didn't know about it until two years later when they stopped making payments on the house and it foreclosed. We found out about it when we were looking at buying a used trailer, back when Bit was an infant. To think all that time we were paying rent while someone else had a house in his name. Too bad we couldn't just keep the house!
So have you ever had a credit card stolen or your identity stolen? How did you find out and how did you get it resolved?
I hope everyone is healthy and well and has a great weekend!