Let's go shopping......WAIT!...That's my credit card!

When I was a young man, one of my Uncles told me how important it was to have good credit.

The EXACT car that I had!

I valued his words, and I worked hard for many years to attain a good credit rating. The first time I ever applied for credit was in my late teens, I purchased a 1969 Buick Riviera ( I Loved that car!) and got a loan for $400.00 at a credit union. I paid it back in full and on time. That was the start of my journey in obtaining good credit status. Through the years, I had many credit cards, and my goal was to have an American Express because my Uncle told me that to have one of these cards surely meant you were successful.
The funny thing about credit was, you never worried about someone else stealing your identity. You never had to worry about someone stealing your credit card numbers and maxing out your card. But today it's a different story. Credit card fraud is identity theft in its most simple and common form. It can be accomplished either through a unscrupulous waiter or cashier or it can happen when your pre-approved credit card offers fall into the wrong hands. All a person has to do is get these out of your mailbox (or trash can) and mail them in with a change of address request and start spending. Someone can even apply for a credit card in your name if they have the right information. You won't know a thing about it until the credit card company tracks you down and demands payment for the purchases "you" have racked up.

This happened to me today on my Lowe's Business Card....

Welcome to Lowe's....

I received my Lowe's bill in the mail today, and looking over it, I see that the payment due was $268.79....I thought to myself, how can this be, I only have a $695.00 purchase on it? Looking down into the "purchases" area, I had a heart attack....there were two big charges, one for $2,100.00 and another for $2,680.00....These charges were made at a Lowe's in Staten Island....And this person re-supplied his home with new appliances like a 28 cubic foot refrigerator, washer and dryer..WITH the pedestals! etc...
I called the number on the card, and it took about fifteen minutes, and seven puzzles to get to talk to a human being, and really, I use that term very loosely. After talking to five of the most stupid people on the face of the Earth, I insisted to talk to a Supervisor. FINALLY, someone with a brain! Come to find out that this person made other charges after the billing cycle, to the tune of $12,689.00!!!!! All at the same store in Staten Island! They issued me a new card and will be investigating the jerk that somehow got my number....

This subject brings me to my current Construction Story from beyond....

Years ago I had a back operation, and my doctor told me to never carry my wallet in my back pocket. After the operation and recovery I took his advice and kept my wallet in my lunch pail. At the time I had a fairly large crew, and one of my men, Damien (not the Antichrist one) who was working for me at the time was a guy that had worked for me a couple of years before, and had to leave to go to California because his Grandmother was dying. He was a good kid ( I thought) and when he came back to NJ. he asked for his job back. He explained that he was at an all time low and needed help.
I hired him back and took him under my wing. The first couple of weeks I gave him some extra money to help him along. I paid him as an apprentice, and kept him close to me so that he would learn the trade. It was going good for about five months, and I really enjoyed having him around. Then one warm winter's day I was working on a scaffold, and asked him to go into my van and get me my two foot level. I remember thinking that it took him a long time, but I didn't really give it a second thought.
The next day Damien didn't show up for work, and the next day, and the next day. I was kind of hurt, but I thought that something had to be wrong because this kid really respected and looked up to me. I tried to call him, but never got an answer. About a week into this my wife and I went Christmas shopping for a second time. When it came time to pay the bill, I pulled out my wallet to get my credit card, but it was gone! I panicked....I thought that I left it at the last place we shopped about two weeks prior.

I got home, and immediately called the credit card company to report my card lost. 

The representative then asked me about certain charges that were made the days after I had used it last. There were things like: train tickets to New York, and a $350.00 bill from Hooter's, and an awesome stereo from  P.C. Richards, and tons more. There were over $3,800.00 worth of charges. After MY investigation it turns out it was Damien, who stole my credit card, from MY wallet, in my lunch pail, in my van. I pressed charges against him, and I never saw him again. Funny though, I think I would forgive him, and maybe even hire him back.....mostly because I now wear Cargo pants, and always keep my wallet in my side pocket!

TIP OF THE DAY: 

Credit Cards....

Now that Punxsutawney Phil has lied to us all about an early Spring, we should start thinking about some big home improvement projects, so when the weather actually does warm up, you will have a plan in place!

I find that one of the best things about doing projects is using a credit card (Make sure to pay it in full at the end of the month!) with a good rewards program attached to it. It's good because you don't need to carry cash around with you, and every dollar you spend accumulates points for some nice goodies. I recently got a really cool Blu-Ray DVD player with all the bells and whistles. With this I can watch all the Blu-Ray movies that I got as gifts, and my home movies that I put on DVD, my favorite one was the year that Damien got better gifts than my kids got!  

See you next time......from beyond.........