Arghh!!! I check my financial accounts everyday - sometimes more than once a day. Yeah, I admidt it, I'm a bit anal about wanting to know exactly how much I have at any given moment. 
So, yesterday I noticed on my credit card account that although my rent and a number of other things had gone through, they weren't showing up in the actual balance. I thought that was strange, but figured I'd give it a day to see what happened.
Tonight I attempt to log in - I get the message that Nope, You can't log in. Call *********** customer service.
So, I call. I get run through the id verification process. Then I'm asked if I had made the following charges: $2,349 at Home Depot; $1,569 at Williams Sonoma; $689.57 with Time Warner, plus some others I don't remember-- I reply with a Holy Sh**! Um, NO! those aren't my charges!
So, my current number is closed now, and they are sending me yet another new card with a new number. So now I get the fun job of remembering all the various things which I have coming off my card on a regular basis. Fun. NOT!
I have a dentist appointment tomorrow with a co-pay of at least $100. I was planning on using my card for it. Guess I'll have to use my debit card - thankfully ING is still running its 1% back promotion, so it won't be a total loss.
I should have my new card here by Friday when I get home.
It's amazing how something like this can sneak up and bite you even when you keep a tight eye on the accounts.
I'm very glad that Providian realized that these were WAY out of the ordinary charges for me -- I feel bad for the retailers who are now out whatever products the idjiuts bought with my card number.
Hopefully this will be the last time I have to change card numbers for a LONG LONG LONG time! PITB!
And Another One Bites the Dust!
December 6th, 2007 at 02:06 am
December 6th, 2007 at 05:05 am 1196917514
December 6th, 2007 at 06:09 am 1196921362
At least you have old bills to review and make sure you move everything to the new account!
December 6th, 2007 at 12:40 pm 1196944844
debtfreeme: I'm not sure how they got my numbers. I do use my card for online shopping -- so its possible they somehow got it from one of those places -- or maybe at one of the stores I bought stuff from recently.
Like my bf said last night when I was telling him about all this -- At least the thieves have good taste -- i.e. Williams Sonoma.
December 6th, 2007 at 08:15 pm 1196972141
Didn't the credit card company ask you to file a report with the police and sign some sort of affidavit? I thought that was the procedure for this sort of thing.
Still, I would be beating my head against the wall trying to think how my cc number got into someone else's hands.
At the very least, why not put a freeze on your credit reports given that this has happened twice?
December 6th, 2007 at 11:26 pm 1196983609
Yes, the CC company said they'd be sending some kind of affidavit for me to sign saying those are not my charges. They didn't mention anything about needing to file a police report.
I think you are right, it is probably time for me to put a freeze on my reports. I'd been thinking about doing it, because recently the company that does our HR work had a laptop stolen which had a bunch of people's employment information on it - which included everyone at our company. I just haven't done it yet. (I don't believe what happened with this CC has anything to do with the laptop being stolen - but with all of that info out there, I do think it probably is about time to freeze my credit. I have no reason to apply for credit for a long time - nowhere near ready to buy a house.)