see more Engrish
YOUR CORRESPONDENT, WHO HAS ONLY ONE CREDIT CARD TO HIS NAME (THANKFULLY), IS THE SORT AS HAPPENS TO BE RATHER CAREFUL (OR TRIES TO, ANYWAY) in regards to its use, even to the extent of keeping careful and cautious track of all transactions.
Not to mention being rather distrusting of all those "identity protection" offers you hear advertised on TV and radio which, for all the fearmongering and paranoia they love to use in exploiting the clear and present danger of Identity Theft, aren't exactly value for money, what with existing Federal laws, by and large, already providing credit-card users valuable protections against the fraudulent (in particular, limiting consumers to $50 in unauthorised charges so long as the loss, theft or suspicious charges are timely noted; in practice, VISA and MasterCard have taken it upon themselves, and their issuing bankers, to not hold afflicted cardholders liable for unauthorised charges timely reported).
And what's more, you have the prospect of such "identity protection" services resorting to Kanker Sisters behaviour of the most obnoxious or boorish sort when you try and use them, as in asking you to constantly respell your name, only to misread it back all the time, among other stalling or delaying tactics raising questions under consumer-protection laws ... as well as the likelihood of no realistic action being taken in case of fraudulent or compromised use of your credit card once you open the monthly statement.
=============
I BRING THIS UP IN THE WAKE OF WHAT I DISCOVERED IN THE OPENING OF MY CREDIT CARD STATEMENT FOR A MASTERCARD I HAVE WITH CHASE just this evening: I noticed no less than five charges I didn't recognise.
Two from Sony PlayStation to the tune of $300 in toto, and three from Apple iTunes to the tune of about $18 in toto, totalling about $318. I promptly became suspicious because a) I don't already own a PlayStation unit (nor do I have a TV as is needed to so use); and b) I don't have any class of an MP3 player as would accomodate music or film downloads from iTunes or suchlike services.
Knowing that I couldn't have made the purchases in question, I promptly called Chase's cardholder services line, who in their turn put me through to their Fraud Protection Services branch ... whereupon they promptly cancelled the original card to prevent further illicit charges and, concurrently, started issuing a new card (with new account number), as will arrive within measurable distance, not to mention opening enquiries into what caused these illicit charges to show on my account in principio.
After all, seeing as this is probably the first instance I am aware of of possible unauthorised or suspicious charges to my account, not to mention my having a history of psychological and emotional issues as can trigger frustrative episodes, I, on the one hand, feel that I Did The Right Thing in making a timely report on noticing the suspect charges to my account ... and, on the other, feel a bit edgy in this my first encounter with unauthorised charges.
=============
ALL ALONG THAT I'VE HAD A CREDIT CARD, I have limited the use thereof to myself and myself alone, which makes all the more bizarre just who would be stupid enough to have access to my credit card information aside from myself. Mine Innkeeper Friend, for his part, is of the view that a lot of the thefts of credit-card account numbers you hear about on the news are probably "inside jobs" where call-centre staff bring in camera phones that can be used discreetly to capture sensitive account information off the computer screen which can then be resold through the "darknet" @ substantial profit.
In any case, I'm rather thankful that, by having just one credit card, my contacting the issuer's Cardholder Services office right away when discerning suspect charges on my statement free of cost was probably much saner than paying some $20/month subscription to an "identity protection" service, only to encounter all manner of obnoxious and idiotic excess which may conceal deliberate delaying or inaction with little to show for it in the end.
Especially when deliberate Kanker Sisters behaviour is resorted to.
"...and that is is a way."
glitter-graphics.com
