Dear Thief,
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?
