Thursday, October 27, 2011

A Chicken story...Dishonest People SUCK!

You know the old saying "Don't count your chickens before they hatch"?  Good idea to heed that warning...  Well, it's a good idea to keep them separated too.  Just sayin...

Yesterday (Wednesday) was stressful.  It didn't start off that way though.  It actually started off pretty good...until I checked my bank account around 7:00 a.m.  I am SO GLAD that I didn't follow my normal routine this one time.  God certainly spoke to me because I can't explain why I chose to get on the computer and look at my account.  Glad he talked to me though...

Around 7:00 yesterday morning, I looked at my bank account to find out that all my money was g...o...n...e... What the heck???  I had just been paid a couple days earlier and we don't normally even use that account other than to pay bills with my check.  I knew we hadn't used that money.  Bills hadn't been paid yet.

After "investigating" the charges, it quickly became clear that somebody had hacked into my account and had themselves a party.  They did a balance inquiry in my savings account to see what was there, and transferred it to my checking account.  With four swipes of a "clone card" (neither of us had lost our cards) our money was gone by the end of the day Monday.  HOLY CRAP!!!

I called the 1-800 number on the back of my card to report my findings.  Victor, the guy that helped me was very nice.  He said the charges originated out of Atlanta, GA.  He was very helpful getting the charges disputed and let me know that their would be a "provisional" credit to my account in 1-10 business days. It has to be investigated first.  He faxed the papers that needed to be filled out and signed to my bank.  I left school to get them signed so they could be notarized and faxed back immediately.  That wasn't as easy as it sounds though.

Since the fraud happened using Mike's card, he was the one that had to fill out the paperwork and and sign it.  I had to drive all the way across town to his work to get the papers taken care of.  Then, back to the bank.  This whole process took about 45 minutes.  Once I got back, it was time to fax it.  Just my luck, the fax was having trouble connecting.  So, I sat and talked with Mike's cousin Amy, who works at the bank.  (She was doing the faxing for me.)  It was nice to chat with her.  :)  Finally, the papers went through.  YIPPEE!!!!!

Now, it's just time to sit and wait...and hope they catch the guy (or girl) that did this.  Crossing my fingers that the investigation the bank does turns up some information that lets them prosecute the freakin' thieves...

So, are you wondering about the chicken comment I made at the beginning of this blog post?  Well, it's the first thing I thought of after this happened.  You can NEVER count on things (or chickens) to always be there.  Kinda like my money.  I knew it was there, but look what happened.  And, one thing I have learned from this is that it is ALWAYS a good idea to NOT keep all your money (or your chickens) in just one place.  Lesson learned...

To the creep(s) that violated me and my family I just have one thing to say to you...

May the fleas of 1000 camels infest your crotch and may your arms be too short to scratch...

To everybody else, I hope you have a good weekend.  I know we will.  :)