Thursday, March 10, 2016

A Mid-Morning Scare

I have a text alert every time my checking or savings accounts have a transaction exceeding a certain amount.  Two years ago I did not have this feature and in a 4 hour block of time on a Thursday night my entire checking account was cleared out and taken to overdraft.  Since my overdraft protection is linked to our savings accounts if I had not noticed the charges our savings could have been wiped out as well.  To complicate the situation it was the night before my husband and I left on a cruise. I happened to check the account balance around 9:30 as I finished my packing.  I spent the next half hour on the phone with the fraud division of our credit union.  As the situation unfolded we were able to prevent some unposted charges from being cleared and the earlier ones were later resolved by the credit union.  A negative -$700.00 balance is not a fun way to start a travel experience.  Thankfully we had another account we were able to use during our cruise.  But I’ve learned my lesson.  I check the balances of our accounts often.
The two Sundays of our payday weeks  each month my husband and I tithe by check at church.  The following Thursday the checks clear our accounts.  This week,  I didn’t expect any large expenditures to clear.  When I got a midmorning text I checked saw a large amount had been processed!  My heart sunk.  Not again!  How often can a person claim to be a victim of fraud?  At lunch I began by texting a balance check on all accounts.  I sat in my classroom ready to make some quick phone calls. Take a deep breath.  Notice negative or rather lack of negative symbols. 

Our Federal tax refund is now in our account!  Isn’t technology grand?

3 comments:

  1. That is scary! You are lucky that you checked at that moment. We have only had credit card problems and the credit card companies have been very prompt in catching the fraudulent transactions.

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  2. I was frightened for you for a minute there. Glad things worked out last time and that this time was good. Love that the refund goes directly to the the bank account. :-)

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  3. I was frightened for you for a minute there. Glad things worked out last time and that this time was good. Love that the refund goes directly to the the bank account. :-)

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