It seems like October is National Steal-From-Mrs.-Micah Month. *sigh* Stop by CVS after work to pick up a few necessities. Remember distinctly putting ING Direct card on top of Wachovia card in wallet. Head home. Decide to fill up (Micah’s picking someone up from the airport tonight) and pulled into the gas station. Gas is $2.65. Win.
NO WALLET!
Don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic. Drive back to CVS. Talk to checkout employee. Talk to store manager. She offers to watch security tape. No joy.
Double check car. Nothing. Call Micah & get numbers for Wachovia & ING so I can call them ASAP. Sit in car and put stops on cards. Discover Wachovia card has been used. Ask for new card and place fraud report. Wachovia promises refund. Ask ING for new card. No activity. Remember ING card was on top. Wonder if it looks too fake and orange for the thief to trust it. Laugh at thief who hasn’t heard of ING’s rates.
What did they buy? Ironically….gas. Shake fist at OPEC.
Fret about need to replace license.
Drive home. Feel surprisingly peaceful, though still grumpy. Get hug. Write blog post.
Draw useful advice from situation: Always call right away to put a stop on your account. You can have it taken off if you find the card, just tell them that you’ve lost it and don’t want to close the card yet. I had my wallet stolen(?) once in college and once lost my debit card (at home). In both cases, I got the cards back unused and unharmed and just had the stop taken off.
After putting a stop on your account, ask them about the most recent account activity. Fortunately, I had the CVS receipt so I knew when the wallet was stolen.
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Damn OPEC and damn wallet thieves! I lost my wallet once on the metro. It was returned to the metro station manager – a few bucks lighter. Luckily, the only cash I had in there was under $5. Funny enough, there was also a $100 Safeway gift card. 🙂
I lost my wallet a couple weeks ago. No one tried to buy anything, but getting a new license was a pain.
I’m glad it turned out ok for you (even though it sounds like it was a little stressful)
I used to work at a cafe and customers often forgot their credit cards. We would always call the credit company for them, hoping that either the credit card company would let them know immediately that the card has been stopped to relieve any angst about their cards being used by someone.
I’m glad everything got resolved for you 🙂
That is so rotten. I’m sorry!
I’m sorry, Mrs. M. 🙁 Glad things are being resolved for you, though. 🙂
I’m sorry. 🙁 That stinks. I am glad you found out soon though. You will definitely get your money back!!
That is upsetting. A few times I’ve left credit cards unpicked up after making a purchase (hits myself on the forehead a few times). But all the other stuff can be a real pain. I’m very glad that the ING card was unused and you caught the false charge on Wachovia card. If you report a lost / stolen card, the bank should review your recent charges. If they don’t ask them to. Most fraud charges occur in a very short time after the card was stolen or found. Actually the gas charge is typical. You probably just missed a bigger charge. Most thieves try the card as a gas station (no attendant to call the police if the card is reported stolen) and then go to a store for some larger ticket items. So this thief may have had a surprise at the store.
Good luck with the license.
That just stinks! I’m sorry your wallet was stolen.
Damn the luck. Sorry to hear about this, but happy there were no major losses.
Awww…that’s the pits!! I’m sorry for your hassle and discomfort.
Good for you that you had enough sense and presence of mind to call your credit-card issuers on the spot. Hope the chucklehead tried to charge up a gigantic big-screen TV and got caught in the act.
Maybe the driver’s license thing won’t be too big a headache. Here you can get a new copy of your DL online. Don’t know what they do for you, though, if you report the license stolen. Maybe they’ll issue you a new DL number.
Oh no! I’m so sorry your wallet was stolen, I know how much of a pain it is to replace this stuff, not to mention worries about what they can do to your accounts.
But kudos to you for handling it so quickly and so well! I hope they come back to you, or that their user is caught….
Ah! Yikes!
Well, at least we can all learn a bit more from you about what to do if something like this happens to us…
Sorry to hear about that. Good job you realised quickly so that there was no major damage.
I recently had my debit card “phished” from (I think) the gas pump, as I rarely if ever actually slide/use the card. I remember using it while not quite dawn to fill up, then 3 days later there were purchases of almost $500 on the card! All purchases were made online, as I still had my card with me.
The hardest part of all of this is the treatment/help/follow up that I’ve received from my Credit Union. Nada. Zip. Nothing! I immediately contacted the local police, as I noticed “pending” transactions when I checked on account online (I do this daily). The police said “no one ever reports it this quickly.” Obviously, they don’t know me; but they said that no crime had been committed until money had actually come out of my account. WHAT!? You mean to tell me that if I saw someone with a gun, and they pointed it at someone’s head, I have to actually wait for them to pull the trigger before a crime was committed? That shut them up real quick like. Begrudgingly the report was taken. I waltzed into my CU (card was already cancelled) to get a new card and turn over the police report info. Again, since no money had yet been deducted from my account, they wouldn’t even take my fraud packet. WHAT?! That night the money was deducted; I waltzed back in and left the packet – “we’ll investigate.” What’s to investigate? I’m holding the card used, and these aren’t my charges. Too bad. Short story long, one of the online places had great fraud filters and knew the card wasn’t being used by the rightful owner. They gave me e-mail info., delivery address, which was on the East Coast and I live in SoCal, so I contacted the local police there, with detailed info., and almost 3 weeks have gone by and not a soul has contacted me.
Lesson learned; DO NOT swipe card at the pump, in the dark. I opened a new account and because of the lack of help or caring from my CU, have gone to a bank, but the hassles involved are numerous. Auto Deposits; auto payments; charitable donations that occur monthly – all stopped because someone decided they needed leather clothing, Napster music, Wet Seal gear, and Armani Exchange apparel.
I never thought it could happen to me, and the worst part of it all? The card was in my possession, not having been left behind or lost, and I got “phished.”
Mrs. Micah, I truly feel your pain, but it sounds like you certainly knew what to do and did so in a timely manner. I pity the thieves who think we’re so dumb and lame as to not know where we used out cards, or who to call right away to thwart their future ill-gotten gains!
Great post and truly helpful as well. I now have a list of all cards in my wallet with account numbers, phone numbers, who was notified, etc. so if I were to lose my wallet, the Excel file has all the info., and the cards can be cancelled/stopped/alerted within minutes. We’re the smarter ones now, not the thieves 🙂
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