Be careful out there!

[TooFarTampa]

I don't have time to catch up on everything, but I wanted to provide the following public service announcement, one that I think qualifies as a "social issue."

The following information is purely anecdotal, but there is a point to it.

1) This is by no means remarkable on its own, but when Mr. TFT packed his extravagantly expensive watch that was a very sentimental gift from moi :D IN HIS LUGGAGE :bang: of course it turned up missing. Our bags were delayed upon arrival in Italy and naturally the watch was gone when they were delivered to our hotel. Mr. TFT surmrises that the delay to the luggage was a ruse; he thinks the watch was discovered during baggage scanning at JFK and swiped there. The alternative is that it was sitting around in Naples and was snatched by one of the many nearby mob employees. The point is, someone saw the opportunity and moved quickly. Lesson learned. Trust me. :angry:

2) Upon our return from what otherwise was a glorious trip, we discovered that neither of our debit cards worked at Starbucks at the Atlanta airport. A call to our bank revealed that not only had our card information been swiped during a huge security lapse by a local supermarket, but some :cuss: had tried to use my number to buy gas at a number of stations in NY and the bank had noticed -- three transactions later. Our cards had been put on fraud alert & new ones were already on their way.

3) I get home to discover that the numbers from another account (this one little used) had been swiped, possibly in the same security lapse. Some other :cuss: (or the same one?) went on a gas buying spree in New York and overdrew the account, then kept trying to use it, again and again. At no time had either of my cards actually gone missing! :shock:

4) After my dear mother in law returned home after a week of watching our kids, she discovered her house had been ransacked. :pissed: It was probably teenagers or college students; they took cash and a computer but left the silver and the good jewelry, thankfully.

5) We are not the only ones. My favorite columnist offers this creepy tale from last week:

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/article481307.ece

What I am trying to say that it dawned on me, finally, that if the economy continues the way it is going, this kind of thing is going to become much more widespread. None of the above incidents seems to have much in common with the others, but all sorts of shady and downright bad people are going to be seizing upon any opportunities they see, so learn from us (and my favorite columnist) and be smart!! Protect your identities, lock your doors, set the alarm, don't answer the door late at night, don't pack nice watches in your luggage, and if you do, make sure they are insured! :eek:

[InletBchDweller]

Oh my!! I am so sorry TFT! You want me to go and check on the Seacrest house tommorow???:idontno:

How was Italy?? Trip report when you are rested....:wave:

[DD]

Wow, TFT. I'm so sorry your trip was overshadowed by all this crap. Can't wait to hear the good parts.

[scooterbug44]

Wow! What a welcome home! :(

Mama Scooterbug had her credit cards stolen on her way back from visiting me in Italy - she was so upset at leaving me, she wasn't thinking and packed them in her suitcase.

[Mango]

Ouch TFT. Sorry. :( On a postive note, I am glad you had a good time. Things can be replaced, but memories can't.

Yes, unfortunately these and upcoming days I think we can see much more of these things happening.

[TooFarTampa]

Thanks guys, but honestly, I am over it. Feel sorry for my poor MIL, or Mr. TFT, who is feeling rather ... silly. Everything else is fixable and the trip was wonderful. (Report will follow in a few days as I have lots of less funn things to catch up on.)

I just really wanted my SoWal friends to take a minute to think about what they can do to be better secure or a bit more careful, because I honestly think a lot more of this stuff is going to pop up as things get worse. I generally tend to be a bit on the cheery/optimistic/naive side, but all of this has been enough to make me much less trusting. And I think that might be a good thing.

[cp]

oh goodness, see I use and depend on my debit card daily. I hardly ever have any cash on me.
so sorry to hear about this. but can't wait to here about your trip!

[Mango]

oh goodness, see I use and depend on my debit card daily. I hardly ever have any cash on me.
so sorry to hear about this. but can't wait to here about your trip! I used to do that too, but I always kept the little receipts in my wallet and would check them against my statement. Well, I got busy and stopped doing that because years went by and I never had a problem.

Then suddenly one time I was glancing over my account and noticed all these debits but didn't recognize the location. It was about $150 in total or so. Small amounts that did not go noticed. $25 here, $30 there.... Looked at previous months and saw the same thing. I called the Bank and they did an investigation and someone had forged my card apparently. So check your statements against your saved receipts.

The same thing happened with a credit card at a gas filling station. Here's a little tip: Now when I pump, I put in an odd # that I remember and alternate it. Birthdays, house #'s, etc., so when I see my statements, I know if there is a problem.

[TooFarTampa]

Oh my!! I am so sorry TFT! You want me to go and check on the Seacrest house tommorow???:idontno:


You are in town? Thanks for the offer, but what I really want to know is how the paint job looks. :blush:

Here's a little tip: Now when I pump, I put in an odd # that I remember and alternate it. Birthdays, house #'s, etc., so when I see my statements, I know if there is a problem.

This is a great tip!!! :clap:

[Mermaid]

I'm glad you're home safe and sound and that the trip was wonderful. :clap:

Re: #1, my brother's brand new and expensive cell phone was lost in exactly the same manner as Mr. TFT's watch. I hope your hubby is not beating himself up over this (nor you him :biggrin:). Travel is so exciting but it's also flustering in many ways, and these things happen. In an ideal world luggage would be safe from start to finish but you can't count on that, as you found out. C'est la vie.

Re: #2 & 3, I'm confused. In a supermarket your card would be in your hands at all times so whatever happened to your card number must have happened well after the transaction was completed, not during? Which means that many other customers must have been similarly victimized. I don't know what you could have done to have avoided this particular crime as you didn't do anything out of the ordinary or careless.

I'm sorry your m-i-l's house was the target of a break-in. After a rash of robberies in our neighborhood a few years back it was drummed into us by our local police the importance of making your house look like someone's in it at all times. It wasn't too long ago that all we did when leaving on vacation was lock the doors, but those days are over. I don't like that but the world is changed now. :(

[cp]

I used to do that too, but I always kept the little receipts in my wallet and would check them against my statement. Well, I got busy and stopped doing that because years went by and I never had a problem.

Then suddenly one time I was glancing over my account and noticed all these debits but didn't recognize the location. It was about $150 in total or so. Small amounts that did not go noticed. $25 here, $30 there.... Looked at previous months and saw the same thing. I called the Bank and they did an investigation and someone had forged my card apparently. So check your statements against your saved receipts.

The same thing happened with a credit card at a gas filling station. Here's a little tip: Now when I pump, I put in an odd # that I remember and alternate it. Birthdays, house #'s, etc., so when I see my statements, I know if there is a problem.
I'm going to try that odd # thingy,I saw on the local news where one local gas station was bumping the amounts by 10.. or 20 a year or so ago. But I still use my card at the pump,it's so easy! thanks for that tip!!:wave:

[peapod1980]

TFT, just found this thread today--what a rotten rash of bad luck! :( I am so sorry, but I am so glad you enjoyed the trip anyway and are home safe and sound. Looking forward to the trip report!

[Ocean Lover]

TFT, just found this thread today--what a rotten rash of bad luck! :( I am so sorry, but I am so glad you enjoyed the trip anyway and are home safe and sound. Looking forward to the trip report!

Hey, me too, I've been missing alot lately due to the new set up.

Sorry all this happened TfT!

Mr OL and I were getting gas the other day and several police cars were there. I said they were probably there because of a drive off. The same happened when I pulled into another station last week. With the economy and the price of gas going up (3.75 right now) I'm afraid it is going to heppen more often.
Thanks for the heads up. We do need to be more careful.

[SHELLY]

I just really wanted my SoWal friends to take a minute to think about what they can do to be better secure or a bit more careful, because I honestly think a lot more of this stuff is going to pop up as things get worse. I generally tend to be a bit on the cheery/optimistic/naive side, but all of this has been enough to make me much less trusting. And I think that might be a good thing.

Man, that sucks what happened, but glad you've taken the mind-set that you're not going to let it eat you up.

People tend to fault me for being overly skeptical and a cynical--but it's a product of my inner-city upbringing that required 'street smarts' to survive.

You're spot-on that things like this are going to escalate as the economy continues deeper into recession. Opportunity makes a thief--and those thieves will be on the lookout for the cheery, devil-may-care optimists who think they're living in Mayberry RFD or believe that their caged communities = safe + secure.

.

[ShallowsNole]

TFT, this sucks...but I am glad that you had a wonderful trip otherwise. :clap:

I too am afraid this type of thing will escalate. It's really scary. Seems like everyone I know has had something happen to them. :idontno:

[Beach Runner]

TFT, I didn't see this thread earlier, but what happened to you really stinks! SIL/BIL go to Italy every year, and they are just used to being robbed/pickpocketed every time they go. But they've never been victims of credit card skimming. So sorry you had this hassle on your vacation.

BTW our gas cards were stolen when we were in Seagrove last weekend. Obviously at some point we forgot to lock the car. What's weird is that whoever stole them didn't ever use them. :idontno: From now on, I don't think hubby will keep his credit cards in the car anymore, that is, once the new ones come in the mail.:bang:

[closer2fine]

BTW our gas cards were stolen when we were in Seagrove last weekend. Obviously at some point we forgot to lock the car. What's weird is that whoever stole them didn't ever use them. :idontno: From now on, I don't think hubby will keep his credit cards in the car anymore, that is, once the new ones come in the mail.:bang:

Good Grief!!! Seagrove is getting hit left & right. Another neighbor of mine had their guest house broken into. Younger guy (18ish) apparently - someone saw him as he ran off. Wonder if he's the same guy who stole from our car.......

[Beach Runner]

Good Grief!!! Seagrove is getting hit left & right. Another neighbor of mine had their guest house broken into. Younger guy (18ish) apparently - someone saw him as he ran off. Wonder if he's the same guy who stole from our car.......
I'm not saying it happened in Seagrove -- we had come to Seagrove for the weekend. The more I think about it, the more I believe that hubby forgot to lock the car at when we were having dinner in Grayton Beach. He parked behind the building, and it was rather dark back there. The dog would have barked if it had happened at home in Seagrove.

[Andy A.]

Might I offer this suggestion. If you use a credit card often, as I do, access the responsible website for the issuer of your credit card daily and check to make sure all the purchases on the site are yours. I do it daily. I also check my bank balance in the same manner. So far, knock on wood, I have found all the purchases are, indeed, mine and all the bank withdrawals are mine as well.

[Tootsie]

TFT! Oh my goodness! I am just glad you are home safe and sound. and thanks so much for the warnings. we all must watch out!

trip report my dearling! can't wait to hear.:wave: