Submitted by
Shirley Rose Winn
Scene 1
Friend goes to the local gym and places his belongings in the locker. After the
workout and a shower, comes out, sees the locker open and thinks to himself, "Funny,
I thought I locked the locker ... hmmm," dresses and just flips the wallet
to make sure all is in order. Everything looks okay, all cards in place.
A few weeks later his credit card bill comes! A whooping bill of $14k! Calls up
the credit card company and starts yelling at ! them saying that he did not
make the transactions. Customer care personnel verified that there is no
mistake in the system and asks if his card had been stolen.
"No" he says -- takes out wallet and pulls out card -- and -- yup!
You guessed it -- a switch had been made! Another similar (same type
Master/Visa from the same bank) expired card was placed in the wallet. The
thief broke into his locker at the gym and switched cards.
Verdict? Credit card issuer says since he did not report the card missing
earlier, he would have to still pay the amount owed to them. How much does he have
to pay for items he did not buy? $9k !!!!!
Why were there no calls to verify the amount swiped? Small amounts rarely trigger
a 'warning bell' in some credit card companies. It just so happens that the small
amounts amounted to big ones!
Scene 2
A dad at a local restaurant paid for his meal with his credit card. The bill!
came, he signed it and the waitress folds the receipt and passes the credit
card along.
Usually, he would just take it and place it in his
wallet or pocket. Funny enough, he actually just took a look at the card and lo
and behold -- expired card of another person. He called the waitress and she
looked perplexed. She took it back, apologized and hurried back to the counter
under the watchful eye of the dad.
All the waitress did whilst walking to the counter was wave the wrong expired
card to the counter cashier and the counter cashier immediately looked down and
took out the real card. No exchange of words --nothing -- she took it and came
back to the dad with apologies.
Verdict: make sure the credit cards in your wallet are yours! Check the name on
the card every time you sign for something and the card is taken away for even
a short period of time.
Many people just take back their credit card without even looking at it,
thinking that it has to be theirs.
For your own sake,
DEVELOP THE HABIT OF CHECKING YOUR CREDIT CARD EACH TIME IT IS RETURNED TO YOU AFTER A TRANSACTION!