I reckon I sent someone to prison. I'm so mean.
The thing that was irking me before feels like the latest installment of random weekly ordeals. On the day I saw my monthly bank statement for one of my accounts, I also received a phone message from the bank. It wasn't too hard to narrow what they wanted down to a few possibilities based on the statement because,
1 - There was no money in the account and
2 - The person who removed it all from my account happened not to be me.
That's right, all of it. Which left me wondering how someone could make cash withdrawals on a card that I'd never used and for which I honestly couldn't even remember the PIN myself, let alone give it to someone.
Naturally I gave the bank a call first thing in the morning. Turns out they wanted to inform me that I was in overdraft and that I should deposit more money. Cheeky from where I was sitting. This prompted an interesting line of questions.
Rue: Are you sure you didn't rather want to ask me about why it is I'm in overdraft?
Banker: What do you mean?
Rue: Have you looked at my transaction record.
Banker: Uh hang on let me pull it up... uh yes, I did see that you made eleven five hundred dollar cash withdrawals at an ATM one week.
Rue: Was there some point at which you thought that might be a bit... suspicious?
Banker: (replying airily) No I just figured you needed the money!
Rue: What kind of operation are you guys running over there?
Banker: Are you saying you didn't make these withdrawals?
Rue: Yes I am.
Banker: Well, don't you check your balance more often?
Rue: Pardon me? Are you implying that it's my fault for not checking daily?
I had a pretty good idea how it happened and in the end it turned out that I was correct. Some banker observed that there had been no activity on the account for a long time and I suppose figured I was dead or out of the country. This guy took my card info, created a card, and I presume self-authorized a reset of PIN and went to town. You would think that someone who works in a bank would know that it would leave a paper trail and that there are cameras on bank machines. But it turns out he was smart enough to cheat and dumb enough to get caught.
So I got my money back and he's going to be prosecuted. Sorry, but I had to report it buddy.
I wonder if I'd have noticed if it had been only a bit at a time... You can fleece a sheep many times but slaughter it only once.
It's a good thing I didn't pay my taxes from that account. That could have become a sordid affair.
Lesson learned: if you have any accounts or credit cards that are not being used, close them before someone closes them for you.
Also: it's sometimes a good idea not to put all your eggs in one bank.
Monday, May 21, 2007
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