Dear Thief,
Perhaps one day I'll have the pleasure of meeting the thief, and having his undivided attention/Thinkstock
First allow me to commend you on your craftiness.
Neither myself nor the lady from my bank had any clue as to how you succeeded in sneaking my debit card number and charging some $700 worth of random goods.
You could have nabbed it anywhere – from the kitschy souvenir shops in Michigan to the Best Buy in the heart of Tucson.
I knew I should not have answered all those personal questions just to get a Best Buy rewards card.
Or maybe you have a pal who doubles as an unscrupulous retail employee, stealing away debit and credit card numbers to share with his friends. Perhaps you dig through Dumpsters or somehow hack into Internet accounts. The list of possibilities rambles onward.
Your timing, too, was excellent. You managed to pull off an entire day and a half worth of charges before anyone even noticed. You are both crafty and quick, a real role model for society.
Secondly, allow me to show some understanding. Although my initial reaction was disbelief and rage, coupled with the extreme urge to poke nails deep into your eye sockets, let’s assume you have good reason for doing what you did.
The $50 at Duane Reade in Bayside, N.Y., was surely for life-saving medication for your elderly mother. Your $23 for the Long Island Railroad’s Jamaica, N.Y., station must have been for train fare to get that medication to your mother.
Of course, you then needed the parking fees you racked up at the LIRR train depots.
Glad, too, to see you got yourself $160 worth of groceries from Waldbaum’s in Stonybrook, charges which just showed up this morning after the card was canceled. Another bank lady said you must have chosen credit and the charges gone through before the cancellation did.
And no one can argue with the $195 charge at Toys R Us in glorious Valley Stream.
After all, kids these days just can’t live without the latest Barbie Dream Townhouse or full line of Ninja Warrior Hamsters. Your ailing mom may have benefited with a new mah-jong set or a yo-yo or two.
I’m still not sure what the $188 was for, but I know those Toys R US toys are surely more important to your darling family than paying my bills or meeting my mortgage could ever be to me.
I’ve also been known to waste my hard-earned money on frivolous things, like food or gas.
Thirdly, I must offer my sympathy, as I noted several charges were made in Queens, New York.
The only experience I have with that particular New York City borough is either getting stuck in the snow near Shea Stadium or meeting a man who would go on to stalk me and threaten my life.
I have come to associate Queens with things that are less than pleasant.
With such stomping grounds, I cannot really blame you for turning to a life of crime.
I do hope your other illegal endeavors, as I’m sure you must have a few, are equally as successful as robbing from my bank account was. And I do hope to meet you in person one day, perhaps over a stolen cup of coffee. Or perhaps over a nice wooden table in court.
Sincerely,
Ripped off and Teed off in Tucson, Arizona
P.S. Yes, my bank said the money you stole may be reimbursed but it will take some time for the claim to go through. In the meantime, since you’ve pretty much drained my entire bank account, I’m stuck eating oatmeal. Have a nice day.
[tnipoll]
What do you think?
Has anyone ever stolen your debit or credit card number?
Did they charge anything worthwhile at least?
Do debit cards bring more problems than straight up cash?
Would anything make you forgive a thief?
Do you suppose these thieves are ever even caught?
Another great reason to use a credit (only) card. You are protected in a case like this.
I think debit cards should be protected against theft and fraud just like credit cards are. Why not?
i will HEARTILY agree with you on all of the above, flylowguy.
credit cards turn me off since the bill comes later, after i usually forgot i owe the money – and there’s also the interest which gets added when i don’t have the money to pay full bill since i forgot i charged it….
…but they ARE an AWESOME alternative to scams like this one that left me high, dry and incensed.
“forgot I owe the money -“? “don’t have the money to pay…”?
C’mon Rynski, if you don’t get your head in the game at least a little bit, be prepared to be ripped off again and again.
My husbands wallet was stolen out of the car, and his debit card was in it. They charged $800+ in a very short amount of time, and we did call to cancel it right away. The credit Union did NOT hold us accountable for that $800+. We were just as protected as if it had been a real credit care – which it was not.
Well, to make it clearer, what I meant was that the money, of coourse came right out of our checking account, but the Credit Union, put the total amount back into our account – all $800+. We had phoned the C.U. immediatly, called the police … done all that they had expected us to do. The Credit Union was very good about it.
thanks for input, neva williams – and happy ending to what could have been a very crummy situation.
it gives me further faith i, too, will get money reimbursed. thanks!
If you can pay your mortgage with $700 you are doing better than the rest of us.
You also, inadvertently I am sure, forgot the part about you only being liable for $50 or less.
hi gill bates,
NO WAY does $700 pay mortgage, but every little cent needs to go towards it these days.
what part about being liable for $50 or less? am i missing something? if yes, please advise.
i’m sure the bank would be happy to hear from me once again (haha).
The $50.00 limit applies only to credit cards, not debit cards.
thanks for clarification, koreyk!
Ryn, someone in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico got our credit card # & tried to charge at a Walmart there (twice), but the card company noticed and called us so we stopped that. Debit cards are problematic as the $ is debited directly out of the bank account, but usually the bank repays you. That happened to my husband once when he got pick pocketed in Hungary. Consequently, we don’t trust debit cards and do not have any.
aw, man – that stinks, carolyn.
so glad the card company blocked the charge – as you mentioned, one of the advantages of credit cards over debit.
also thanks for bit of hope that bank “usually” repays. i’m jumping on your non-trust of debit card bandwagon, for sure.
I been that route and I felt so violated all for a leather coat, sunglasses and guess what? Toyz r us, over $300 smackaroos in a toy store. So Sorry Ryn but if you need to, come out to the ranch and fire off a 20 round clip of .308’s into a watermelon and get out your aggressions.
noooo!!! what the heck is with all these toys R us thieves??? geesh. at least mine did seem to buy groceries and medication for his ailing mother – hahaha.
thanks for sympathy and i’m sorry you, too, had a similar situation.
thanks! on watermelon shooting offer – i just may take you up on it! (can i bring the dogs?)
(can i bring the dogs?)
Don’t shoot the dogs, Ryn. It’s not their fault.
hahhaha! i would NEVER shoot my dogs, lefty (although they seem to want to shoot me when i don’t give them enough treats – hahaha).
Ryn
I am so sorry that happened to you.
Once someone charged $10,000 to Harvard on my credit card.
As for my debit card, I never take it with me when I travel. Also I never use it to make online purchases. Certainly, that’s no guarantee but some small safeguards. If I can’t see that debit card in my radar at all times, like paying for a meal in a restaurant, then I’ll pay another way.
What really irks me is that when you go to the doctor and fill out new patient paperwork, everything asks for your SS#. Yeah, like I’m going to write it down so the paperwork can sit in a file. I just write N/A and nobody hassles me.
I’m glad the bank is working with you.
hey karyn,
thanks for sympathy – appreciate it! sorry to hear you had a harvard $10,000 charge – eek! hope you got that one taken off the list.
also agree docs – and even others – are pretty free about SSNs. pretty scary how much info just lays around, ready for thievery.
thanks for comment.
Wow, Ryn, sorry to read about this. Sending good vibes to you with best wishes of a speedy recovery of your hard earned money.
thanks, cherlyn.
i’m getting the vibes!
This goes back to the comment I made the other day that we have no respect for one another. Also not a huge priority for the police, witch is sad, I work hard for my money, the last thing I want is to have some one take it away from me. I don’t care if they need it more than I do, I don’t find that there is any reason to forgive an act like that. Sorry to hear of your troubles.
thanks, oakland.
no respect is right. i, too, would be hard-pressed to forgive someone for stealing from me, or anyone who works their butt off just to make ends meet. or anyone for that matter – although it always hits harder when it’s people who sweat blood for wages.
Ryn;
Sorry to hear about your account, lets hope the scum bag gets caught and gets what they deserve. Nothing more low life than a thief, maybe second behind that would be a bold liar. Hope good vibes head your way soon and this never happens again.
thanks, oldwest2.
i’m with you on hoping the thief gets caught – i already have one pal who said she’d happily ride the F train looking for this idjit (sic) in queens. ahhh, the beauty of nyc connections – hahahhaha.
I find it ironic that you readily promote vandalism by posting how-to instructions for taggers but you get upset when someone commits a crime against you. Is criminal activity only wrong when it personally effects you? You should research how our country is (or use to be) a COUNTRY OF LAWS not a country of people. Places like Mexico are the later where laws are arbitrarily applied and results in bad things.
I just went through this TODAY!! and for the first time in my life, I really feel like I could strangle someone. My whole paycheck is gone, which was to cover my rent and elec bill. My bestfriend just lost his mom and I really wanted to be there for him. He lives in MA, I’m in TX. I had just enough in my savings account to buy a ticket to fly out there and see him. Because some person decided to going on a shopping spree on my accout, I cannot be there for my friend. I will pray for you thief, and I hope you bought food and diapers at Kroger. If not, I hope you find some salvation soon, because you are definitely headed in the wrong direction.