Too much coke and fraud

So, t’s been a long couple of days.

Right before bed last night, I got an e-mail from Chris, my comic connection. It was one I’d expected awhile. First off, I’ve been getting comics from Chris for like 4 years now or darn close to. I stuck with a store in Decatur for nearly a year before deciding to look into something nearer by. I checked out several stores before stopping into Drake’s Comics and really liking what I saw. It was a great shop. Chris totally knew his stuff and steered me to some great books I’d have never known about. Weathered a store move and then a lot of uncertainty about whether or not things would stay afloat. The store nearly closed once and then did actually close, but Chris has kept on going on the side while he pursued other interests. And ultimately, he’s still bleeding money through the comics and he shouldn’t have to do that. So, yes, last night’s e-mail was that it’s at last over. I can’t blame him at all. It’s like the closing of an era. But if my worst problem in life is where I’m getting my next comics, then I’m doing okay.

So, I went out with friends at work tonight for dinner. It was a lot of fun. And this is where the too much coke comes in. I drink INCREDIBLY rarely. Like, whole seasons pass kind of rare. I don’t have anything against drinking, but I also never felt like I got a lot out of it. Leave me with my bottomless cokes. So, I’ve had like 99 diet cokes and am drinking #100 now. See, this may be more dangerous than their drinks!

I get home and there’s an e-mail to me from American express that they think they have a fraudulent charge on my card from myfamily.com… huh… First off, I wondered if the e-mail was even legit. I don’t trust this kind of stuff. Sure, e-mail me to remind me my bill is due or that payment has been received. But send me an e-mail telling me to call a phone number I don’t know and discuss my credit card and personal information? Are you freaking goofy? So, I built up a head of steam while I looked at all the source of the e-mail and also checked out myfamily.com – well, genealogy connected. I could buy having spent money there, but it’s not like I forget charging $100 somewhere in the last two days… The e-mail looked legit, but I still didn’t trust it. So, I called the number on my card. Mr. I’m your friendly customer service in India confirmed that the e-mail was from American express and there was suspected fraudulent charge… great…. He connected me with the fraud department… Another guy from India who didn’t speak either loudly or clearly… I confirmed that I had not made the charge. He said that they had in fact denied it as the card number and security code from the card didn’t match, but someone has my card number now… of course… So, they cancelled my card…. and I complained bitterly about them contacting me via e-mail regarding fraud. Why would I believe such an e-mail. It sounds like a great scheme to me. Contact me, get me to call a number and then give them all that information… right… I told them under no circumstances did I want further fraud e-mails. Call me….

He was nice about it, but who knows if he really noted it on my account. I was then connected to the first person I’d spoken to who could claim english as her first language. She was the person who would send me a new card. Why would I need to speak to a third person to confirm to mail the card to the same address my bills come to???

She, of course, went into this great spiel about how I could get some sort of fraud protection package from Amex that would enable me to call JUST ONE number to get all my credit cards, debit cards, etc cancelled when there was fraud, plus fraud insurance, etc. I managed to politely sit through most of the rehearsed lines before I interrupted, “I assume there’s a cost for this?” She stumbled a second and said, “uhhh… yes, but it’s only $29… a year…” So that you’ll call two credit cards and a bank for me? “But isn’t $29 worth…” No thanks. “It’s not too much for peace..” NO THANKS!

“Thank you for using American Express, good day!”

yes… everyday some jackass gets my credit card number is a good day… I thought that part… I’m not that rude..

The funny part, afterwards, I log on to my Amex account and see that the “alerts” section of their site is set to send me e-mails regarding frauduent activity… oops… Unless that’s the default, I may have set that up myself years ago… oh well, see what too much coke makes you do?