New Shoes

The countdown in on! We are set to close on our house one week from tomorrow. According to our realtor, the seller wants to close earlier, so it may be as early as Wednesday, we'll see. Trying to purchase a house has been an interesting process, with many up and downs, and one that I am not likely to repeat any time soon. I will share more details of our ordeal, along with some pictures of our house, hopefully this weekend.

But tonight I want to tell you about a interesting, and scary, situation we went through last night. For the last three weeks we have been staying in Temporary Housing and living off of a Government Per Diem, which is a daily allowance set by my agency to cover our expenses until were in a permanent residence. One stipulation is that I'm supposed to use my Government issued credit card to pay for food and housing.

Last night, after placing an order for pizza, the restaurant called to let me know my card had been declined. This is highly unusual for a government issued card, so I called the bank to check on the status of my account. After asking me several security questions, the representative stated that she needed to verify some recent charges.

Did I charge $32 for Panera? --Yes, and it was delicious!

Did I charge $25 from a Pizzeria? --Yes. For dinner the next night -- also delicious.

Did I charge $1 from "e-mudd"? --Hum... that doesn't sound familiar.

Did I charge $1346 worth of merchandise at Zappos.com?

--What?!?! NO WAY!!!!! $1346 Dollars worth of SHOES!?!?!

Apparently, I am the victim of credit fraud! I cannot believe it! According to the representative, there are people who sit around guessing at credit card numbers. When they find one that takes, they try to make purchases with it. Something didn't match up with the purchases, so the bank put a hold on the account.

I was (and am still) utterly dumbfounded. This is something I thought only happened to "other people." It was definitely a humbling experience that it actually happened to me and that I was completely helpless to prevent it. I guess it's a good example of why it's so important to check your statements when they come in the mail.

One highlight was how amazing and professional the bank representative was. She immediately cancelled my card and issued me a new one. (And sent it overnight delivery, so that we should have it by this weekend). I am grateful to the credit card company for being so diligent to check for suspicious activity, and even more grateful that they are not holding me responsible for the charges.

And now all that's left is for me to do is dream about what I would do with $1346 dollars worth of new shoes!