My wife and I were sitting at home drinking ice tea and watching the football game, when we heard the phone ringing.
The phone rarely rings.
We don’t know a ton of people and most of our friends don’t regularly call. I was a little startled when the phone rang. My wife got up and gave me the phone. It was the credit card company. They were calling because they noticed an odd purchase and wanted to verify the amount and place.They were alarmed because I made two different purchases at the same store within five minutes of each other. I told the woman that we didn’t use the credit card to buy anything for the last five months or more. She reviewed the receipts for the purchases and the first one was a dress. The second purchase was a much larger ticket item. The person bought an air conditioner. The air conditioner was nearly $800. After that, the cards showed three additional charges from local hardware stores. I didn’t authorize the purchase of a dress or an air conditioner. I told the company to cancel the credit card. I thought it was in my wallet, but I checked and it was missing. I have no idea how long the card has been gone or how many other purchases were made fraudulently. We’re thankful the credit card company decided to call, because the person was on a shopping spree with my credit. That particular card is for emergencies and it has a spending limit of $7500 with a cash back allowance of half the available balance.