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FraudApril 02, 2010 I ignored the e-mail because it looked like spam. PayPal, eBay, and others are forever telling me my account has been compromised, so I wasn't surprised that Bank of America was doing likewise. Then I got a phone call. I started to ignore that too, because the Caller ID window said "CARD SERVICES," with a phone number I didn't recognize. The automated message said that there had been suspicious activity on my credit card account -- Ho-hum, yawn, thought I, and went on typing -- then it gave the bona fide last four digits of my credit card number. That got my attention. I logged on to my credit card account and sure enough my card had been suspended. I followed the instructions and clicked on a link to MyFraudProtection @ BankofAmerica.com. First I had to prove I was who I am by answering a few multiple choice questions. The first one had to do with the amount I'd borrowed recently to buy or lease a motor vehicle. None of the amounts were correct, but still -- they knew I'd recently had a vehicular transaction of some kind. The next asked who was part of my household. Susanna Sturgis was one of the options. So were Heather Sturgis and Jason Sturgis. Never heard of either one of them. Once I'd satisfied them that I'm the I who belongs to the account, I was given a list of five transactions and asked if I'd made them. They all seemed related to online gaming. Two seemed to be tests: they were for $1 each. The next two were for larger amounts -- over $100 -- but were still pending approval. The fifth, $62.50 to Microsoft Xbox, was marked "Posted." No way had I made any of them -- though truth to tell I did for a moment consider the possibility that my hitherto secretive gamer alter ego had possessed my body and charged stuff to my credit card. I was asked if my credit card was in my possession. I was 99% sure it was, but since this was in the nature of an affidavit I went to my wallet and looked. There it was. I swore that yes, it was in my possession, and no, no one else was authorized to use it. The upshot is that now I've got an electronically signed statement that I did not charge that $62.50 to my card and I have no knowledge about who did. A new card is being sent to me -- bummer, because I know the old number by heart and now I'll have to look at the new card before I charge something. I still loathe Bank of America, but I'm impressed that their security picked up that a flurry of online gaming transactions were probably not made by the cardholder. As to how the Unknown Gamer got hold of my credit card number -- damned if I know. I use my card online. I use it at the gas station. I used it at Kappy's weekend before last. That some mischievous individual had access to my credit card number sure isn't hard to believe. This hasn't happened to me before, and I'm not out anything: the $62.50 will be wiped from my transactions. For a few moments I thought capital punishment was too good for the twerp who tried to have his (what do you bet it was a "he"?) fun at my expense, then I decided I was lucky -- if the guy had been smart enough to run up a tab at, say, Borealis Records or Amazon.com or Fahrney's Pens, Bank of America's sage computers might not have noticed anything suspicious at all.
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