My husband and I share a credit card and we pretty much charge everything, from a quick fast food lunch to gas. When making a larger purchase (over $150-ish) my husband and I typically give each other a ‘heads up’ so that the other isn’t blindsided.
We like to use the credit card rather than cash or our ATM cards because I’m kind of lazy when it comes to keeping track of exactly how much money is hanging out in our accounts every single day. Using the credit card helps us keep track of our spending, makes it easier to pay bills around our paychecks AND we earn points on all our money spent.
Now, I’m not suggesting that this set up would work for everyone, but it works for us. After taking turns being out of work over the past few years and fighting the debt that comes with that, we are diligent in paying the bill in full every single month.
I don’t review the account every day, but I do check it a couple times a month and before I pay the bill. That is why I’m so incredibly appreciative that my credit card company has a super awesome fraud protection team.
I received a call on Monday that there was an “odd” charge on my account that they wanted me to verify. It was a random $.67 charge to a business that I had never heard of. Obviously I did not make that charge.
However, as I looked at my account for the first time in a week or so, I realized that there were other charges that I also did not make:
- Two charges to Forever 21 for over $300 – FOREVER 21?! How in the heck can you spend that much money there? The clothes are so incredibly cheap at that store that $300 could have bought Halloween costumes for an entire cheerleading squad, or field hockey team, or whatever skinny bitches are shopping there for clothes.
- A PayPal charge to a Beauty Supply company for about $150 – Great, just great. I go the cheap route by spending a whopping $11 on hair dye and someone else is getting the good stuff!
- A payment to Loud Speakers LLC for $160 – I actually did have to run this one by my husband to see if it was for car parts for one of his ongoing projects. It wasn’t. And as far as I know, Jack isn’t pimping out his crib, so someone else apparently ordered some equipment so they can play their music too damn loud with their car windows down.
All in all, someone else used our credit card number and bought over $800 worth of stuff. This really pisses me off because I have buyer’s remorse whenever I spend more than $150 on stuff I don’t really NEED. But this asshat felt totally fine spending almost a thousand dollars of our hard-earned money?!
Do you have any idea how angry that makes me? Totally a HULK SMASH moment going on when I saw that statement.
The cool thing is that my credit card company caught the odd charge and immediately put a hold on my account. They sent me new cards (with a new account number) the very next day and removed every single fraudulent charge from my account without an argument or even a discussion. It was honestly one of the least stressful situations ever, for something that could have really been an issue.
So today’s Love Today Friday is totally dedicated to my credit card company. Not only did they find fraud on my account before I even noticed, they FIXED IT immediately without causing me to freak the frack out over it. I still hope that they somehow chase down the people who stole my number and committed the credit card fraud, but I’ll just have to assume that karma will kick them in the butt for me.
How about you? Do you want to dedicate your Love Today Friday to someone or something that made your week happy?
That’s so scary! I use my credit card for everything, too. It feeds my book addiction as I can cash in the points for amazon gift cards. Who’s this miraculous company? Maybe I won’t ignore the next unsolicited offer I get in the mail….
Lol, I was going to put the name of the company in the post but decided that to protect myself from future fraud it’s probably not a good idea to list them! I’ll email you. =)
Totally unrelated- have you read Olivia Joules and her Overactive Imagination? It’s by Helen Fielding of Bridget Jones fame. It makes me think of you all the time because, well, Joules. But it’s really quite endearing. Chic lit, but I think you’d dig it.
Yup, I’ve read it… specifically because of the name reference. =) And I LOVE ME some chick lit. However, I just started reading a crazy book about a “jail” island that they send criminals to in the future (called The Penal Colony by Richard Herley, was free for Kindle). Totally not my normal thing but I’m HOOKED right now!
Someone out there in the interwebs has my social. They have been trying for over a year and a half to open various credit accounts in my name then add their own names to the accounts. I have had to file police reports, jump through a gazillion hoops, put an extended hold on my credit with the 3 major credit reporting agencies, set puppies on fire, dance naked in the street. Oh you name it, I’ve had to do it. And yet, STILL I get notices that there continue to be accounts attempting to be opened. Discover’s Identity Theft Protection is a great too and well worth the $9 a month.
Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry you have to deal with that — I hope that karma gives them a big, swift kick in the heinie too! Thank for the tip on Discover’s Identity Theft Protection!