Look out, I'm mad!

This is exactly what I would look like if I were blond. And had a gun. And smoked.

Yesterday I went to Target and shopped. A lot. Things we needed. Things I just plain wanted. Retail therapy after being sick for so long. With a very full cart of bagged items, I ran my Target Visa through the machine. Denied. WHAT??? I tried it again. Nope, still denied. The store is remodeling and the customer service center is presently closed. In order to find out about this I had to get in line again at checkout #1. They couldn’t tell me anything. I would have to call the number on the back of my card and give them my SS#, billing address, first born’s middle name and tell them which came first, the chicken or the egg.

I knew I hadn’t done anything to warrant this so I fumed on the way home. I was going to need to clear this up over the phone and return to Target before closing to have that transaction voided and then re-rung on my Target card to get the 5% savings.

Just last week I wrote about credit card fraud here. Well, guess what? It happened again! I had just used the Target Visa the day before, late in the afternoon without a problem. That evening, 4 attempts were made using this account but without valid billing info and expiration date, none went through. My account was locked. One of the attempted charges was for 78 cents. Here we go again.

The gentleman I spoke to was apologetic for the inconvenience and told me that the 5% I would have received had I been able to use the Target card was being applied to my account without returning to the store. I didn’t think to ask how long the company was going to wait to notify me of this. He asked if someone would be home this morning to sign for delivery of new cards. They were here shortly after 9:00 am.

I told him this had happened to me recently with another card, and also to a friend, both with 78 cents being used. He told me it was most likely an automated program that someone is using, trying to find a number that will go through and allow them to charge their evil little heart’s desires.

While relieved that we hadn’t been personally targeted by someone at a store or trusted website, I am annoyed to think that this could happen again and again. Thank goodness the credit card companies have been vigilant, but how does anyone stay a step ahead of the bad guys? This didn’t happen because of lax security. So in that photo above, the gun would be pointed at the bad guys that I can’t see: the one who wrote the program.and those who use it.

On another note, I’m none too happy that Blogger STILL hasn’t fixed the problem that would allow me to upload photos from my computer but I’m not ready to take aim at them. Not just yet. Apparently this is an IE problem. I’ve already changed from Firefox to IE because of other compatibility issues and I don’t want to change again. I am using Windows Live Writer to compose posts but that isn't my preference. My trigger finger is getting twitchy.

I want to look like this woman. Brunette is better for me. Non-smoking. No weaponry needed.

And that slim, belted waist wouldn’t be bad either!