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SUSAN ISRAEL | BLOG

Getting by on $1.34

5/16/2017

5 Comments

 
Truth is, you can’t. Not for a day. Not for an hour.
​

This is what I was left with in my bank account after some scum sucking lowlife skimmed my debit card and went on a crazy night shopping spree. He (or she?) didn’t spend my money in one place but two. And nobody at Merchant #2 thought to question why anyone would want to buy over $300 worth of candles, much less someone who had never bought a single candle from them before, much less someone who is allergic to candles. (But they wouldn’t know that it wasn’t me without a better fail safe than they have in place and hey, look, a big sale!)

I discovered the breach when I went to pay my phone bill. Sorry, insufficient funds. WTF? I checked my balance and statement and sure enough there were charges I never made there. I raced to my bank branch, running a couple of stop signs on the way, I think (don’t tell the good folks who taught at cop school!) and told the bank employees and called the merchants and was reassured I would get my money back. But I don’t know when. And I have $1.34. And some cash. But not much.

When I was held up at gunpoint and when I was mugged- separate incidents no less!- I didn’t feel as victimized. I was face to face with the perps then, I knew who did it and I knew that the gun robber was arrested. I was so mad at the mugger that I started chasing him when I got up off the sidewalk but he was on a bike and gone before I gained five steps on him. All for $2.00 and change. More than I was left with in my account. In both incidents, I lost a lot less money and I felt less violated. I never got any of that money back but I was physically mostly unscathed. I became even more street smart than I already was.

But this was different. I don’t know where my card info was stolen or by whom. Sometimes card hackers make a small insignificant purchase to test, to see if it’ll get by, before they buy out the store, but I found nothing like that in my statement. I made a list of places I had used the card in the past week and wondered “Did it happen here? There?” Was it before that week even? A restaurant? A kiosk in the grocery store? A parking meter? J’accuse!

Waiting on the money lost to be credited back to my account and hoping it’s imminent, I reflect that yeah, there are worse things, but suspicion and paranoia suck. As does getting by on $1.34.



5 Comments
Lisa Munley link
5/16/2017 02:39:57 pm

This hasn't happened to me, thankfully. But my daughter's debit card info was stolen at a gas station. The bank called her within an hour. The card had been used at several 7-11's, small amounts, and then a bigger amount at a department store. She didn't know her info had been stolen. The bank was great, reversed the charges, issued a new card and PIN. I think it took a couple of days though.

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Susan Israel
5/16/2017 02:42:33 pm

We're on our way to getting reimbursed (phew!) but my, what a scary shlep this was.

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Lisa Munley link
5/16/2017 03:11:52 pm

It's such a violation!

Pam Gardnet
5/16/2017 03:56:07 pm

It happened to me with a credit card a few years back during the Christmas season. Somewhere they must have swiped my number and went on quite the shopping spree( over 1,000). It has been happening to my husband the last couple of months with one of his cards. All on line and from the U.K. No less! We live in the USA. I hate these scum. He never has used that card in line so go figure.

Reply
Susan Israel
5/16/2017 06:17:30 pm

Happy to say the money has been restored to my account but it was a looooong four days.

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    Susan Israel

    Susan Israel has published fiction in Other Voices, Hawaii Review, and Vignette and she has written for magazines, websites, and newspapers, including Glamour, Girls Life, Ladies Home Journal and The Washington Post.  Susan Israel is a graduate of Yale University.

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