Today is the technical age; hackers are running rampant and using their knowledge for good or evil. Unfortunately, I recently came across a scammer who took advantage of my hard earned money and stole hundreds from me. While this is very normal, especially in a city like new York, I took this incident very personal.
How could they do this to me? What did I do? Don't they know I don't make much money? What if I still had bills to pay? My RENT to pay? How could you suck the money I work hard for right out of my pocket just like that? these were all the thought bubbles popping around my head. It was devastating to say the least, but I had to be proactive and find a way to cope with this experience.
I found out on a lovely Saturday. I came from a lovely picnic with friends, I was watching season 2 of "The Get Down", I mean everything was great. As I was checking out my grubhub order the app kept saying error. Some days it was rightfully so, but this time it just couldn't be! I checked my account expecting to see my monies aligned proper and having to call grubhub to complain after the fact. But when I saw what was left in my account I wanted to cry. I then looked at my statement and saw the gross amount of money stolen from me. Immediately I called my bank and unfortunately their service was disappointing.
A man picked up and I explained how I've been scammed. Without any sense of sympathy he told me to call back once the transaction posted. I being in shock hung up and waited. this happened Saturday and Monday rolled around with the transaction still pending. So I called back and this time a woman transferred me to claims (only after being disconnected). I filed one and the bank said I should get my credit back within 10 days. I told them about the first indifferent banker and they neglected to comment on this. I feel like my bank didn't have my best interest as a customer and as soon as possible I will be walking out on them will all my cash. Bank cards have chips now, so how does this still happen?
After going through all this I just feel overexposed. This is my money that was taken from me. I work hard everyday making my money. I need my money for survival in new York city. This also makes me hate scammers. Get a real job you low life! Instead of ripping it away from those of us don't have much money. This hurt me deep; I ended up drinking and going to sleep early. I've been off this whole week at work, knowing I'd have to wait a few days before I could even access any of my money. I just feel awful about it and I hate this feeling.
Since this is an ongoing phenomenon we as bankers have to be proactive. Your bank may not necessarily catch it for you or contact you about suspicious activity. One way you can ensure this doesn't happen to you is if you have the safety feature on your account. You can get notifications for every transaction so that you can catch fraudulent charges right away. You should also check your statements; this may be a no brainer to most but I personally never did. Now I cannot help but wonder if there were smaller fraudulent charges in the past that I overlooked. Also find a bank that is proactive in protecting their customers. Two years ago my bank at the time called me about fraudulent charges right away that were much smaller than the current ones I'm dealing with.
They listed the different charges concurred, asked if they could freeze my account, and sent me a new card in the mail. I don't want to put out bank names but just do the research or ask the questions when it comes to how they handle suspicious account activity.
While this has all been trying, God has been great to me. An expecting mom asked me to do emergency child care and she gave me 40 bucks just for meeting with her- no child care! I also did another gig to get some money so I've been provided for until I can get my money back.
For anyone who's gone through this, I feel for you. I hope you coped well and that you never have to go through this again. for those who haven't, I hope you don't ever have to go through this. and to you scammers, I hope you get caught or stop before you really ruin someone's life.
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