12:14 a.m. - 2003-12-07
Clearing the Decks
Well I guess having very little money is an advantage sometimes. I was checking my bank statement that just arrived yesterday. Something wasn't right - I know how to budget down to the penny from years of being a single parent with a single income. No room for mistakes. This time of year it's doubly important with three of my sons' birthdays and Christmas too, to take into account. This year with not having worked for a couple of months in the fall the bankbook is very thin. When I started checking, two of the entries on my bank statement didn't make any sense. One, from November 20, was for an on-line service - a 1-888 line. When I called the number, I was told by a very rude young man that the company created an account of all one's personal identification and credit cards so that if they were stolen the company would do all the work of having everything cancelled and replaced. That's all very well and nice, BUT I don't have any credit cards and I've never had a driver's licence. I didn't subscribe to such a service and I wanted to know how they got my name and personal information and why they would withdraw money out of my account without authorization. The fellow just kept repeating that they had my consent and were entitled to do so. Not. There was also a charge on the account for a restaurant I've never been in, dated for November 26. I don't know how someone got my debit card information, but with the weird phone calls that occurred around the same time and the chemical burn I got at work within that same time period I must admit I'm beginning to feel quite paranoid.
I called my bank after the discussion with the rude young man. The woman from the bank was very good with me. She took down all the details, explained the investigative process that would occur, and calmed me down. She was quite complimentary about my diligence with my bank statement. She wouldn't have known I was trying to figure out why I was so short on funds when I had been so careful to budget for all the expenses I knew would be an issue between now and payday. Doesn't help with the problem I now have with my sons' birthdays this week - I'll be reimbursed for the debits after the investigation in about a month. Fortunately, I guess, my guys are old enough to understand the problem. My youngest was really eager to get his gift - combined with birthday money from other family members he was going to be able to get an electronic game system - and was quite downcast today. I just told him that my next paycheque would come mid-month and he would likely be able to find what he wanted for less, since that's when the stores traditionally start putting things on sale. There's got to be a silver lining there somewhere - right? I'm relieved I caught the problem so quickly. That 1-888 number sort of jumped off the page and it still feels as though someone is bound and determined to co-opt my identity for their own illicit purposes. I hope the bank has a way to figure out or identify who it is.
Me I dealt with the stress by choco-therapy combined with a vigorous cleaning frenzy, well as close as I could muster anyway. The cats are not amused. I washed the floors and now they're going to have to re-mark their favorite territories. Poor dears.
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