STOP, THIEF!

I have become the person that you get those questionable emails about.

You know the ones that say that some particular crime is taking place in YOUR back yard and to exercise extra caution when, say, driving on the interstate for fear of being pushed off the road by someone with Georgia tags who is driving very fast while flashing their headlights at you, or to watch out for the muggers in the Walmart parking lot that have been bopping holiday shoppers over the head to snatch their wallets/purses, or to NEVER give your credit/debit card to the waiter when dining at a restaurant, especially Eric's San Jose on Garners Ferry, because said waiter may be stealing your card information and selling it to someone back in Mexico. You've gotten some of these emails, right?

And because there are so many urban legends out there you never know which ones of these stories to believe until you hear confirmation on the local news. Well, Mom sent me the email about San Jose just the other day and I have to admit that I dismissed it as urban legend and figured if this story was true I would see it on the news.

Well, then I got a call this morning from the Star network. These are the folks who monitor debit card activity and make it possible for you to use your debit card as a credit card. They left me an urgent message at work asking me to call them immediately. As I was dialing the number, I was pulling up my checking account info online and my heart plummeted into my toes when I saw two charges totaling more than $520 from some Mexican medial supply company.

The very nice young lady on the phone asked me if I'd been to Mexico which I assured her I had not. She then informed me that my card information had apparently been stolen and someone had not only succeeded in the above mentioned transactions but had also purchased some electronics online to "test out" the card information (I had also learned this bit about card thieves watching Dateline a few weeks back). The thief also attempted to make a sizable purchase at a Mexican department store. Luckily the card had been blocked by that point.

Ironic, I thought to myself. Sounds exactly like the email Mom sent me. But I haven't been to San Jose in over 2 months. So I started thinking that maybe someone at BiLo, Piggly Wiggly, or D's Wings had somehow gotten my card information since those were the only places I'd been in the past several days.

I then contacted my bank to find out the procedure for clearing up this type of situation and learned that I would have to obtain a police report and fill out some additional forms. So my next call was the police department. They promptly sent over a very nice young officer to take my information. I told the officer that I still had the card in my possession and quite frankly I wasn't sure where the breach had occurred. I jokingly mentioned the San Jose email to her and she said she'd heard the same thing. She had to call her Sargent for more instructions since I wasn't sure where the card info was stolen. He told her to ask me if I'd been to San Jose in the past couple of months. HA! The stinking email was TRUE after all!

Yes, I told her I was there on March 10 and I did use my debit card. The evidence was logged in my check register. I remember the waiter I had and would gladly pick him out of a lineup if asked.

I'm not sure where this will go from here, but I assure you I'll be checking up on the progress of the case. Vigilante justice crossed my mind. I briefly considered taking my walking stick (axe handle) down there to knock some people over the head! Their timing couldn't have been worse! I just got paid and all my bills are due next week. Who knows how long it will take to get my money refunded to me from the bank.

So tell everyone you know to be cautious of handing your card over to ANYBODY ANYWHERE! And stay away from San Jose on Garners Ferry!