Ok, so let me share with a true story that happened to me a few years ago. There I was at work on a Wednesday, checking my online balance for my credit card (on a break, I checked online that is, not during...you know, uh...actual work time. That would be bad), when to my great surprise my balance was much higher then when I check it about a week ago. I quickly looked at my account to see what was up with my account being so off. I saw the following charges on my account from Monday of this week:
Some online music store: $17.95
Online software company: $54.99
Flowers from FTD: $290
Charge from Northwestern Airlines: $3,200
So the first thing I did, after my heart attack and shock and string of obscenitites that made the dad from A Christmas Story blush was to take a deep breath and tell myself there was some soft of mistake. I had the wrong account, charges were not right, anything.
Nope.
Upon further review, it appeared that those charges did indeed come from my card. Now I was thoroughly perplexed (and pretty pissed off) so I called Northwest Airlines to see what was up with this charge. Here is a very brief synopsis of my conversation with the uh...helpful...customer service agent:
Me: Hello! Two days ago I purchased a ticket from Northwest for $3200, can you confirm this?
Douchebag: Of course sir, do you have your confirmation number?
Me: No, no I do not. Not on me, just trying to figure out where I am flying to and from.
DB: You mean you don't know?
Me: Not even a little. You see, thing is, I didn't buy those tickets. Someone hijacked my card and bought them without my approval. So I would like to see what kind of tickets I bought under my name.
(long, uncomfortable pause)
DB: I...am sorry, sir. I can't tell you anything about this. If you didn't purchase the tickets then privacy act prevents me from...
Me: Uh, hello? I DID purchase the tickets. $3200 on my credit card should be saying that privacy be damned, these are my tickets, now what is the itinary?
DB: Sir, I can't help you, you will have to...
Me: Give me your supervisor, now!!
Ok, so I admit looking back I could have handled it a bit better, but I was pissed, and the fact that DB wouldn't help me made it worse. I talked to 5 different people from NW, and NONE of them would help me. Some of them became quite rude. I finally spoke to some woman (bless her heart) who did at least give me the itinerary. Turns out the jackass who hijacked me bought a ticket flying from somewhere in Nigeria, to London, then to New York. Then ten days later return trips back to London, then to Nigeria.
The bitch of it all? They had just flown from Nigeria to London yesterday, Tuesday. I was too late to stop them. The good news? Their flight to the states wasn't for another day or two, so Northwest cancelled those tickets and the poor bastard was trapped in London. That made me giggle at least. If I had more money I would have flown to London right then and there to meet them at the gate and kick their ass.
Long story short (too late!) is that I became one of hundreds of thousands of people affected each year by online theft. It may have happened to you, a friend, a relative, someone you heard of, etc. Truth is, when it happens to you, it really, really sucks. First because 99.9999% of the time the person doing the thieving will NEVER be caught, and you will never know who did it. That faceless, nameless punk (or punkette) you will not be able to extract any measure of revenge on is still out there pillaging other people's accounts, and you are powerless to stop it.
The second thing that sucks about it is that YOU get invaded, and then everyone treats you like you have the clap or something. Like it was my fault that they bought all this crap on my card and now I am not trying to pay for it. The credit card companies did end up refunding the amounts, but I had to fill out tons of paperwork, answer several rounds of third degree questions from phone jerkoffs, and even then they would always say "well it MIGHT be refunded." Might be? Might be? If I could wished for any super power to have, it would have been to be able to reach through a phone and choke a bitch. Right then and there. Or choke a dumbass dude too. That's all good for me.
Shenanigans.
So these online predators make millions each year off of other people's hard earned money, and rarely if ever are they caught. They get caught because they are too stupid or too greedy for their own good. Parasites that live off of the economic teat of society that need to be expunged with a mixture of napalm, nerve gas, and any song from Brittany Spears. How is it that she is still able to make music? Honestly? Have you heard her last songs? Her voice is so digitized that even Darth Vader was like "damn girl, you sound really phony." Please.
So to end this rant, for all you jackholes out there that are taking money from other people online. Stop it. Just...stop it. I know that is not going to do a damn thing for anyone or anything, but should I ever catch up with someone who does this...
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