Are there more people in the world who steal now as opposed to years past — or are we just more aware of it because of connectivity?
I’m again a victim of a stolen debit card number… this time it was for a vacation and something from a camera company in Japan. I have a friend who hates, HATES liars (yes, Alisa, this would be you) and I’m not a fan of people who lie either — but someone who takes something that does not belong to them is even worse in my book.
In the past 6 weeks, I’ve had a house (a house that was empty with nothing of value to steal anyway) broken into on TWO separate occasions. The garage windows were shattered, the bathroom mirror was knocked off the wall and more. Now, some asshole person wants the money in my bank account (that’s from my payroll and is to pay my bills) to finance a new camera and a vacation suite. Get. A. Job. I had my bank account compromised on only one previous occasion at least 10-years ago. That time, the person joined a bunch of dating sites and signed up for online services that I couldn’t cancel because — OF COURSE — I didn’t know the username/password they used to create them. A thief is a thief no matter their method of operation.
I would guess that studies exist reference how much money is lost to theft VS how much it costs to find and prosecute the perpetrators. I would also guess that’s why it seems like nothing is ever done to stop the problem — the problem is only “fixed” by paperwork, crediting the money back to the account and issuing a new card.
From my standpoint, the lack of effort to find the people that do this sort of thing is a huge part of the problem.
I was told by the representative of my financial institution that this was common. “This happens all the time,” she said. If I thought the person I spoke with would’ve known the answer I would’ve asked, “And what’s being done about it?” If the retailers that accepted the payments are legitimate, what will they do if they’ve already provided the product/service? What are the consequences for the thief?
And on a happier note — my Colts won yesterday! Pulling it out in OT was only because someone important decided to represent:
