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Identity Theft Victim Gets Last Laugh
Ovid writes "Being a bit of a hypocrite, I sometimes whine about privacy in my blog. I do, however, try to be careful about not letting anyone get information about me they shouldn't and I rarely, if ever, use a credit card online. This is why I was surprised to find out one morning that identity thieves had racked up thousands of dollars one two of my credit cards. By early afternoon, I caught them and the police arrested them."
never use a card when cash will get the job done. It might sound "cute", but it's the best way to protect your privacy - not to mention your bank account.
My digital rights don't need management.
You might have outsmarted them this time, but it's never a good idea to gloat. This is something you'll forget in time, but they're going to remember it for a lot longer than you are because they'll be the ones doing time for the crime. If they got really rough sentences because of you and spent several years in the slammer as a result, ten years later they could come looking for you to take away your life. Your credit cards would be the least of your problems.
My digital rights don't need management.
More evidence that credit card signatures are useless.
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Come on, now.
Using a credit card online is much safer than using it at any restaurant in which someone takes it out of your sight, using it at a store at which an imprint is taken, or giving its number to someone on the telephone.
I do all of these, and like the vast majority of everyone else, I've never had a problem.
Many, if not most, online merchants, don't ever store your credit card number. The exceptions would be those who have a recurring charge capability and those who explicitly have the capability to store it.
Being aware of the security of your information is fine, but rejecting convenience without adquately weighing the relative risk is damned silly.
This isn't to say that the original poster doesn't have good practices when it comes to using his credit card at restaurants as well. However, nearly everyone I know who won't use a credit card online will pony it up at a restaurant without a second thought.
Last year Wells Fargo calls me. It seems some doofus used my Wells Fargo Mastercard to buy, among other things, $1000 in Victoria's Secret gift certificates from the VS Website. The expriation date was wrong, and the transaction flagged. Wells Fargo did NOT authorize the purchase, and I wasn't billed. (Other smaller purchases, under $50, had been authorized earlier in the day, but they were now being charged back since I said I didn't make them.) Bravo to Wells Fargo for being diligent about this.
Of course, I want to catch these shitheats. Victoria's Secret has their shipping address, so I think it should be pretty easy to get that address, call the police, and have justice done.
WRONGO!!
I call Victorias Secret. They say they can only give the shipping address out to a police officer/detective conducting an investigation, or at the request of the Credit Card company (Wells Fargo.). OK. Fine. They don't want vigilantes.
I call local PD. They say that since I didn't lose any money (WF blocked or refunded all charges) there was no crime for them to persue. If anyone lost money, Wells Fargo did. Call them and have them call police.
I call Wells Fargo. They say THEY didn't lose any money; they cancelled or blocked the charges. If anyone lost anything of value, it is Victorias Secret for (apparently) shipping out the gift certificates immediately without a valid payment now, or a valid expiration date eariler. They would need to call the Police to start an investigation.
"But I just called them! They don't care about who did this. They sent me to the local PD, and they sent me to you," I say. "I just want to know who did this. They have an address, but they'll only issue it to you or the PD."
The conversation took TWO more laps around these three parties before I gave up.
The story linked to in this post gives basically the same story in the sense that the local PD didn't give a shit about this crime in terms of investing ANY investigational effort. It was up to the poor victim to do all the legwork, and even THEN, the police seem like they take their sweet time getting there to catch the jerk-off criminals.
I bet the local DA pleads them down to nothing without a trial too.
In short, it seems that only determined application of stupidity on the part of credit card theives, along with an angry, lucky, motivated victom working hard at finding the theif, is the ONLY way these shitheads will ever get caught.
I don't even know why I work for a living...
Some tips for carrying cash, from a semi-professional gambler who occasionally carries thousands of dollars around:
Well done man, but the syringe portion gave me a chill. The syringe part is more than just evidence...what the cop did was both illegal and insanely dangerous. "Sharps" are considered hazardous medical waste and in every state MUST be disposed of in a proper labeled container (NOT a Coke bottle.) They must be given to a company licensed to dispose of hazardous or medical waste and destroyed, usually in these massive incinerators. (I was a med student once...)
.45. Never had to fire a shot, but I was absolutely ready to drop all three of them and they knew it. The other time I just opened my vest to a knife wielding mugger, we both smiled and he ran off like Carl Lewis doing the 100. Protect yourself!
Ironic as this sounds, what the cop did with those sharps (syringes) was more dangerous than your identity theft. Most likely, the manager chucked the bottle in the trash, and those needles are possibly now being reused by some dumpster diving junkie. Who knows what viruses, bacteria, whatnot those kids had lurking in their blood.
I'm insanely proud of your victory but I gently suggest calling the Red Lion, and TELL them that 'dirty needles' are somewhere in their trash. Two asshole identity theives in jail is small change compared to a trash collector or Red Lion employee getting Lyme, AIDS or septicemia, and spreading it to his family.
Also, those guys know who you are, are obvious heavy druggies and probably don't like you very much right now. They'll be out one day. Consider a pistol permit. I ALWAYS carry, and that's saved my life twice. Get some professional training , and practice every week, too. My close scrapes: Three guys went at me with crowbars (carjacking attempt in a parking lot...liked my M3) and their eyes got as large as frisbees when in under half a second they saw the business end of my Les Baer
"The pie shall be cut in half and each man shall receive.....death. I'll eat the pie."