Yesterday was a Horrible Terrible No Good Very Bad Day. My wallet was stolen, and some lowlife had a shopping spree ($2000+) while I was at work. We cancelled our credit cards (we only have two) and my ATM card, and the banks are sorting it all out, so we aren't on the hook for the $800 he spent on sneakers, the $400 in gift cards he bought at wegmans, and the $500 he spent on video games, etc etc etc. I only had about $20 in cash . . . . but I had 8 movie theatre vouchers and all my "valued customer" cards for all my favorite stores -- I was only one punch away from a free haircut. All our insurance cards, AAA. . . And my special coupon for 10% off all my kitchen appliances at Lowes. (Since we're supposed to close on our new house in two weeks, this coupon was especially valuable - the house comes without kitchen appliances.)
And, of course, my driver's license. But wait, here's the extra kick in the teeth -- last week when I was reading through our mortgage papers, I learned that the Patriot Act requires the paperwork people to verify our identity at the closing day by viewing either a drivers' license or passport (happily I have my passport!), and my social security card. The paperwork was very clear -- If I forget and show up to closing without my social security card, the closing will be postponed. So, of course, I dug out my social security card, and tucked it into my wallet, so there would be no way for me to forget it on closing day in two weeks. AAAAGGGGGHHH!
I spent the afternoon on the phone with credit card companies and banks, then meeting with the police, then talking with hospital security (my wallet was stolen from the parking lot at work, where it fell out of my purse, unnoticed, as I got out of my car in the morning), and then downtown at the social security office. The gave me a receipt stating that I should receive my new card in "7 to 10 business days" -- which means if there are NO screw ups or delays, it will arrive by Aug 6th -- two days before closing date. They won't issue me a new SS # -- which I requested for fear of identity theft since the thief has my name, address, and SS#. They said that won't give me a new number until AFTER I've been a victim of identity theft. Meanwhile, I'm instructed to "watch my credit report." So called all the credit reporting agencies and had the put Fraud Alerts on my files.
The driver's license I can replace on-line -- but need a valid credit card to pay the replacement fee. I don't have one of those right now, since I cancelled both of ours. ARGH! Matt's Mom kindly put it on her credit card. We were able to make it over to my bank before they closed, and they were kind enough to give me some cash straight out of my account (no ATM card) so that I could buy groceries and gas for the car this weekend. Of course, I can't drive the car any where because I don't have a license.
And all this when Matthew is in his last 24 hours before his Board Exams. UGH! Would it make me a bad person if I wished this lowlife a nasty case of necrotizing fasciitis?
On the upside -- Pittsford Wegmans was one of the many stores where he managed to shop in the 3.5 hours the card was active (bought a bunch of gift cards for other stores). I spoke with the head of wegmans security who was awesome -- I gave him the exact time and $ amount of the fraudulent charge, and he searched through register receipts until he found it -- then cross referenced it with the security cameras, and found a nice clear photo of the guy to share with the police. When last we spoke, he was searching through parking lot footage to try and get a make/model/color on the guy's car for the police as well. Whether anyone will be able to ID him from the photo is a whole other matter . . .
I feel so angry.
I feel violated.
I hate this.
