My Personal Debit Card Fraud: The Conclusion

So the fraudulent charges on my debit card finally cleared today which meant I was able to call Bank of America and officially file a dispute. Apparently, whoever made the charges had a card present which means that someone made a fake card with my information on it. Normally I'd think this was creepy but this happened to me once before when I lived in NJ. Someone had withdrawn as much as they could out of my account at an ATM in NYC and then purchased a Metro Card with the remaining balance. Gotta love thieves. What I don't get about these latest thieves is why they'd choose to buy stamps. I mean, really? Stamps? You have access to someone's account and you choose to buy stamps on three different occasions? Weirdos!

I think the most annoying part of this whole experience was how many times I had to tell a BofA rep that no, I have not been in Texas. The rep today asked me if I was sure I hadn't been there. Do you really think I could forget going out of state let alone, to a place like Texas?

Anyway, they filed the dispute and they are giving me a credit for the amount which is supposed to clear on the 24th. The only thing left for me to do is sign and mail back the affidavit they are sending me. I can't wait to get my new debit card. I am not a fan of using cash because I don't believe in it. I feel like everyone should use a debit card, even though the system obviously has its flaws.

More irony

So the day after my entry about staying positive, what happens? Something negative! I was out having a drink with my friend Erika when I get this email message from Bank of America about possible "irregular activity" on my debit card. I get these a lot from them so I thought it was probably just them being over-protective again but I call anyway because when you get one of these notices, your card has a hold on it. So, I call and wait what seems to be a million years (about 30m min) and finally get to speak to someone who tells me that there were three charges from USPS for $37 and change. Two were in Houston, TX and one was in Richardson, TX. Wtf? I have been nowhere near Texas in years so obviously there is something fraudulent going on. What was annoying was that the representative kept asking me if I'd bought stamps. I said no and he asked me that on a couple of different occasions. Would I really fly all the way to Texas just to buy stamps 3 times? Retarded! Anyway, I wanted to dispute the charges then and there but since they were still in their pending stages I couldn't do so. They told me to call back when the charges clear. Annoying! At this point I just wanted a new card sent out to me. In the meantime, the rep said that I could go to any branch to get a temporary card which I attempted to do this morning but failed at my mission. Apparently, because I opened my account in NJ, they couldn't do it for me. It needed to be a FL account. What? I don't understand that but whatever. I just withdrew some money and left. I just want this to be over already but it will probably take a while because the charges are still pending and they said the amount of time for the dispute to be settled "depends." Fun times ahead!

Anyway, I thought it was ironic that this happened the day after I said I was going to try to be more positive about things. I swear someone out there is testing me. Well, I haven't given up yet! I just hope there aren't any more tests anytime soon. ;)