Cheap is the new sinister
July 13, 2009emily 1 Comment »So, someone snagged my credit card number over the weekend and went on a wild online shopping spree totaling all of (wait for it) $3.49. I kid you not. Now, let’s make it clear that I’m not complaining. I’m glad the culprit didn’t max out my credit card while buying dozens of inflatable sheep, for example. But $3.49? Really? When I’m making a credit purchase at a store and I’m asked to show ID, I always make the well-worn joke that if I’d stolen the card I certainly wouldn’t use it to buy whatever it is I’m purchasing: a measly $5 worth of stamps or a $10 watch battery. But, I digress. What’s more interesting about all of this (wait, don’t go! it gets more interesting, you see!) is that this paltry $3.49 purchase triggered a red flag for my credit card’s fraud department! Not the $873.07 that I sent to PayPal on Friday, no no. That would be ludicrous! What’s clearly more sinister is a $3.49 purchase, now that we need to look into. Which begs the question: what, exactly, can you buy online for $3.49? A pack of gum? Two packs of gum, but with free shipping? It’s utterly unclear. In any case, yay to the Chase fraud detector for being much cleverer than I, since I would not likely have noticed the transaction until next month’s statement and then would have assumed that I did, indeed, purchase something for $3.49. I just wouldn’t be able to remember what it was. Maybe a pack of gum? And then I’d scratch my head in bewildered befuddlement.
Posted on July 14th, 2009 at 3:09 am
I don’t even know where to begin. This is SO funny.