I got a call on
I got a call on Monday night from Visa Fraud Prevention, with the happy news that some greasy fucking asshole has stolen my bank card number, manufactured a copy of the card, and gone on a shopping spree. Apparently the typical pattern is that the thief first makes a purchase at a gas pump to test the fake card without an attendant around, then makes a number of large purchases. In my case, the thief bought gas in three places, spent $500 at Target, and then bought $200 worth of shoes at Shoe Pavilion. Washington Mutual tells me another "purchase" is going to clear my account today. At that point I can dispute them and have the money back. It sucks that my bank is going to have to eat the cost of this thievery, though they're better equipped to afford it than I am.
What's terrible is that there doesn't seem to be anything I could have done to prevent this! I still have the card they've "stolen!" It could certainly have been worse ó if Visa hadn't been paying such close attention it might have taken me another week to realize someone was making charges that were debiting to my checking account. I guess these are the costs of the way we've organized commerce.
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