Identity Crisis

Lately, I have been getting a number of automated phone messages on my cell phone... and I have been immediately hanging up on the caller. I frequently get these messages from the Red Cross, etc. Well, the pesky company started to call my work number... and I took notice... it was my credit card company.

When I called the company back, I was transferred to their fraud investigation department. The department starts asking questions, like: Have you recently been buying auto parts in Equador? Do you know someone in Equador? Have you been travelling out of the country recently?

Thank goodness for such flags on the account! Evidently, someone somewhere made a copy of my card and has been using it in South America. They had made 2 transactions to date on the account, little by almost any standard (totalling $50.00 US), but the second purchase was larger than the first and there were 8 additional purchaces that had not been posted to our account (as of the time of my call). It's kind of scary that my identity and the identity of my card could be stolen, even when I shred or burn mail, and don't make many purchases online. But, thank goodness for fraud investigation departments... and their willingness to harass the customer!