The word ‘Surprise!’ always does funny things to my guts. Sometimes ‘Surprise!’ can be a wonderful thing, like when I recently drove from Alabama to North Carolina to see my mom for her birthday. And sometimes, surprise can be a terrible thing, like when I was waiting for her at the restaurant and discovered my debit card had been charged $174.03 without my knowing!
I immediately went into logistics mode, making calls to determine where and when these charges were made. The charges had been made that very same day!
When I should have been enjoying a great surprise party, instead I was cancelling my debit card and allocating funds to allow for the inconvenience. It wasn’t the best way to spend an hour, but it had to be done. It turns out everything that was purchased came from Amazon.com. This was a blessing as it allowed the bank to track the buyer’s account and nab the thief.
Imagine my surprise, when two days later, I received some more unexpected news: the charges had been made from my own Amazon account! I was flabbergasted. How was this possible? Did I log in somewhere public? Was my password stolen? Was I, in a haze, already spending my hopeful future Powerball winnings?
Without being in my house, explained the very patient Amazon rep, there was no way of knowing who had made the purchases. All she could do was tell me what time the purchases were made, what they’d been, and from where they’d been purchased.
Time: 1:00AM
Purchases Made: Several digital boxing games and accessories, as well as a movie.
Purchases Were Made From: A brand new Kindle my 9-year-old son Timothy received for Christmas this year….
Since then, the Kindle has been taken away, and the Parental Control passwords have been updated. It turns out, they don’t work as well if someone’s watching you type them in and sneakily remembers! I just hope Timothy also remembers his math lessons. He’ll need them to add up all of his “getting ungrounded” points….
Happy Monday,
~Mary
