|
  |
|
|
Crime Victim
I don’t know if there is a manual about how to survive being a crime victim but there should be one if there isn’t. Any crime that has been perpetuated against an individual causes a great deal of anguish that needs to be addressed, even if it is in the category of non violent personal assaults such as stolen credit cards, wallets and identity theft. Recently I was a victim of such a crime and it was so smoothly executed that I didn’t know what was happening until it was too late. In retrospect, I should have been more in tune to the situation, but I wasn’t and that is one of the reasons why I feel so bad. I had been shopping in a local produce market where I frequently stop in to pick up a few fruits and vegetables for the evening’s meal. It is in a small neighborhood mall that is in Chicago. After I had paid my bill I was trying to push my shopping cart out the exit door when a very large lady obstructed my path by standing in the doorway apparently looking at an announcement on a bulletin board near the door. I politely waited for her to move on, but in the meantime, another very large lady pushed past me and exited. As she did so she waved “hi there” to the other lady and they both left, each going in opposite directions. I returned to my car and continued to my house. I had not realized that the second lady had opened my purse and stolen my wallet as she brushed past me. I was too busy being polite. After I had been home for about an hour I received a call from Visa asking if I had authorized a purchase for $2,000 worth of liquor in a local wine shop. No, no, no, I said and went to look for my wallet. It was gone! I spent the next four hours trying to call the various credit card companies and my bank in order to cancel my cards and alert them to the fraud. Within an hour, these women had managed to spend thousands of dollars on jewelery, liquor, cosmetics, an expensive bicycle, and gas. Some of the cards refused the transactions, but others did not. I filed a police report and called the following numbers to set up a fraud alert with the credit bureaus in the United States: 800-680-7289 and 888-397-3742. Of course this was a case of locking the barn after the cows escape. I wish I had known to do this beforehand. I recommend that anyone who carries credit cards needs to do this just to keep the credit bureaus alerted to any possible fraudulent activity. The police recommended that the credit bureaus be advised to continue a fraud alert for the rest of my life. All of the credit card companies have credit card registries that will protect card holders against fraud. I had not purchased this service previously, but American Express offered one immediately with the agreement that it would cover the current fraudulent activities and it and took on the responsibility of informing the other card vendors of the situation. In the meantime, all of my personal identification was gone, including my driver’s license. The next day, after I had gotten a replacement license, I vowed to never carry more than one credit card at a time. Also, from now on I will try to be more alert to my surroundings so I am careful about where I am holding my purse and who is standing too close to me. I hope never to have this happen to me again. In the meantime, I am worrying about identity theft. Can they use my ID in order to start new credit cards? Oh My.
|
Contributor's Note
If anyone has any additional advice to add, please do so.
|
|
http://www.julierichman.com
| http://www.abstractandincolor.com
| http://www.hydeparkhistory.org
| http://www.kaysmithartist.com
No reactions yet.
Please login or sign up to rate this intel.
Please login or sign up to add a comment.
The copyright for this content entitled "Crime Victim" has been specified by the contributor as:
All Rights Reserved
This content may not be copied, distributed or adapted by anyone under any circumstances.
|
 |
May, 2012
2008
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2009
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2010
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2011
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2012
January, February, March, April, May
|
|
Not a member yet?
Qondio is a powerful network for making it online. If you have a website to
promote, we can help.
Sign up and get in on the action.
|
|
Welcome to Qondio! Discover the awesome power this network can deliver by going to our About page. Or you could skip straight to the Sign Up form.
|
|
