I'm taking some of my first business management classes right now. In one of them we had a unit on identity theft and credit fraud...nasty stuff!
A few weeks after learning about his stuff I'm out and about using my debit card and when I get home there is an automated call about an issue with J's and my account.
Ooh, that doesn't sound good. And since J is the primary name on the account he has to call back. Well, my card is still working and there are no suspicious purchases on our account. So I tell him he can do it after his duty at work is over and he's at home (the next day).
The next day I try to buy dinner with a friend of mine after a meeting when my card won't process...panic!
Shoot, I've been the victim of ID theft! I try not to think of the damage that potentially could have happened and all the crazy steps I'll have to go through to solve my problem.
I get home and tell J all about it. He calls in the morning and the code is expired it says. Hmmm, that is weird and my dread worsens.
So I call the bank and I'm told there doesn't look to be anything wrong with the account, I'm trying to understand what is going on, and getting nowhere. Is my credit life over, is there someone running around town acting like me buying stuff that I'll never see?!
Then the lady says, "What are the four expiration numbers on the card please?". I tell her its the 4th month of this year, and she politely tells me, "Well, its now the 5th month..."
Oh....my debit card has expired! She asks me if I have a new one in the mail. Uh.....maybe, probably....I forget. And a quick look shows me, yup, its right there in our mail pile and I just forgot about it!
I thank her for being so nice about it all and hang up feeling utterly relieved and totally like an airhead! At least I wasn't a victim of ID or credit theft, just my procrastination!
