2005-01-28 - 9:05 p.m.
The phone rang. I answered it and a man asked for me by name. I identified myself and he then identified himself as being from the Discover Card fraud unit. I�ve had them call before, the last time was when I ordered my Apple I-Book laptop, which cost a couple of thousand dollars. I didn�t mind the call at all, I rather like them looking out for me. They are a company that also wants to know when you have something shipped to an address other than your own, as that is something a thief would do�have an item shipped to his address, not yours! So I happily cooperate with all their security requests.
The man said, �We are just checking, sir, did you buy $703.55 worth at Staples this evening?�
�Seven hundred�!� I ejaculated.
�You didn�t?� he said.
�No way,� I answered.
�How about $120.58 at Gaucho Restaurant yesterday evening,� he continued.
�Gaucho Restaurant?� I said, �I�ve never even heard of it.�
�Okay,� he continued,� �what about $142.80 at Opa, I think that�s another restaurant.�
�No!�
�Or $60.27 at Las Brisas?�
�No.�
�Or $28.75 at Starbucks?�
�That�s a hell of a lot of coffee,� I answered. �No, I brew my own at home and carry it in the car in a thermal mug.�
�How about Madrid Restaurant, $126.72?�
�Where are these places?� I asked, �I�ve never heard of any of them.�
�You didn�t go to Madrid Restaurant?�
�No, I did not.�
�How about Target for $14.32?�
�I don�t shop at Target.�
�What about $69.07 at Ralphs?�
�Hum,� I said, �now that one could be mine. I do shop at Ralphs and that does sound like a likely total.�
�How about Netflix?� he asked.
�Oh yeah, Netflix, probably around $20?�
�Yes, $21.20.�
�That sounds right,� I said. �I know I incurred a charge with them about a week ago.�
�Shell Oil, $28.27?�
�Well, it could be mine, I do sometimes get gas at Shell and it costs about $30.00 to fill my tank.�
�It seems that the last charge you didn�t recognize was around the 21st�that seems to be when the fraud started. Tell me, do you have your card in your possession?�
�I don�t know,� I said honestly, �let me look. Yes, I do have it, it wasn�t lost. So HOW could somebody be using it when I still have it?�
�Well,� he explained, �all of the charges you denied were manually keyed in, whereas all but the Netflix one you recognized had been swiped. That tells me that the legitimate charges come from you using your card, but the fraudulent purchases had been made with a dummy card.�
�A dummy card?�
�Yeah, a thief�now, I don�t want to implicate anybody�but perhaps somebody working in a store you went to copied down your card number and then had a dummy card made. When they go to make a purchase, the dummy card will look right, but the clerk in the store will have trouble getting it to work. The fraudulent user will then ask him to key it in manually and then it will go through. But starting now, it won�t, because as soon as you said you didn�t recognize the $703.35 Staples charge, I had your card cancelled. It can�t be used any more. I suggest that you cut up the one you have.�
We talked a little bit more about this, but the upshot of it all seemed to be that I will not be responsible for any of these fraudulent charges. He asked me check my next statement to make sure and to pay only the ones that I actually did make. He gave me a phone number that I should call in case I discover fraudulent charges other than the ones he and I identified together. But it seems that this fraud only began on the 21st of this month. Boy, in the space of one week, the thief racked up over a $1,000 in fraudulent charges. I guess that�s not much, but based on my normal usage of the card, it was enough to alert Discover Card that something might be amis.
The whole thing is pretty creepy, really, although it does seem that I won�t be any worse for wear, myself. (Once we hung up, I quickly got on the Internet and checked on the activity of my other credit cards and no fraudulent charges showed there.) Discover is already sending me a new card with a whole new account number. I told the man that some of my charges (like the Netflix one) are automatically billed. He told me that I ought to let those vendors know that I have changed cards. �You�ll probably get your new card on Monday,� he said, �and then you can change your automatic billing arrangements.� While supportive, he was very matter-of-fact about everything. Well, he�s certainly seen it before.
He really was wonderfully nice and made me feel secure that I didn�t have much to worry about. He also acted pretty confident that they would catch whoever had done this. Especially with something like the Staples purchase, he was pretty sure that the whole transaction would be recorded on a security camera, and if not there, than at some other establishment. Since I, myself, am anything but a thief, I can say �Thank God for security cameras.� Even though I apparently won�t suffer any loss, I definitely do want this thief caught and I sure hope he spends several years behind bars. Perhaps that�s too much to ask, but I am asking it.
I can�t help but be unfairly racist, here (this being Southern California and all), but the choice in restaurants definitely sings a certain tune to me�Gaucho, Las Brisas, Madrid? If this guy doesn�t speak Spanish�. And what an asshole loser�this wasn�t somebody struggling to feed his family and in a desperation move tried his hand at credit card fraud. He was, instead, blowing it all on eating out at expensive restaurants every night and, I suppose, bought himself a low-end computer at Staples--on my credit card. Well, fucker, you�ll feel right at home in whatever prison they send you to, if I get my wish. Although deportation would be nice, too. How about first prison, then deportation? Adios, cucuracha!
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