Bank phoned me yesterday.....

But first, let me try..... YES!!!!! I made these items for a gift exchange way back in December.... LOL....I also made a dishcloth for one of the groups....let's see if it loads....

Hurray.... :) LOL....

Ok, now... about that phone call....it wasn't good news. But I guess, in some ways, it was. But it was upsetting - disturbing, I guess.

They were cancelling my bank card.

Not because I shop too much - though that wouldn't surprise me!! But for my own safety.

Seems there is this scam - crooks have made some sort of device that they attach to a debit machine or automated teller, that copies the information coded on the magnetic strip on your card. I've seen those on the news - along with all the other identity theft stuff. Anyway - crooks have been using these card reader things, to copy info, then they either watch or video tape you coding in your information, and then they create "new" cards and gain access to your hard earned money. Well, to other peoples' hard earned money.....

'pparently, the police recovered one of these devices, and notified the banks of the cards to be pirated.... The banks notified the card owners.... Thankfully, the theives either weren't able to get my code (I've always been careful) or they just hadn't gotten around to using it - either way, none of our money was taken, and the card is now useless.

I am quite grateful to the police for doing their job, and to the bank for their quick response and action in this matter. However, I'm left with a creepy feeling - I mean, most places now - you swipe your own card, and I would definitely notice if the device looked different. And, I rarely if ever use an ATM anymore. And, the bank couldn't tell me exactly where or when my card was pirated, only that it could have happened any time in the past two to three months. So - now I'm wracking my brain, trying to think where it could have been - not that it matters, I mean, the cops have the device, but still - most places I shop at, I swipe the card...the few that I don't - gas station for one - I don't swipe, but the machine they swipe is usually in full view - besides, I am a regular, and so are the employees there.... There is only one place I can think of as a possible..... where they have been hiring recently - - - not to mention, the part about "recently" - do you remember where you shopped three months ago?? And, that involves Christmas shopping - though once I settled down some, I realized that I didn't do any "unusual" stores then, either.....

Well, like I said - things are OK - no damage has been done, the police are on top of things, so is the bank - they've already checked our account for unusual activity - they did that first!! I'm impressed with the way it was handled.... But I'm still a little creeped out. This is something you hear about on the news, that happens to someone else.... this time it hit way too close to home for my liking................

Boy, am I glad I invested in a paper shredder - and glad that some of my mother's paranoia rubbed off on me.... She was careful with her garbage long before technology made identity theft a household word..... I not only shred stuff, but I split the shredded stuff between garbage bags.... never empty the whole thing at once.... mix it up..... you might think I'm weird (could I go back and add that to the list?) or even paranoid - but this incident is just too close to home.....

And that is why I try to be sketchy with too much personal info here.

Now - don't know about this being too personal, but....

I once knitted a draft stopper thing. I followed the directions from a little booklet. I read, re-read, studied the picture.... it is supposed to be a cat. It doesn't look a lot like a cat. I will try a re-make one of these days. In the meantime, it hangs out at our front door, doing its job through the winter, and just being part of the kitty collection (despite not looking at all like it) in the nicer weather. Now, though - we've been trapped in a cold snap (which seems to be hitting just about everyone this year - I've even heard of snow and colder than normal temps in Texas) and really need a draft stopper at the back door - - - - so, since there is a cat at the front, I should have a dog at the back, right? :)