Two Card Scams In One Week

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

Back home in Monterrey and the frente frio (cold front) has hit us.  We are hunkered down and keeping warm.  Ha ha, you would think it is below freezing or something.  Like everyone else in the Americas, we all knew this one was coming.   I had the yard cut and some other things done, cleaned the house, and made sure the electric blanket was working.   

We leave for McAllen on Tuesday for the Thanksgiving bash at the rv park and we will stay for a week before bringing the travel trailer back to Monterrey so it can be prepped for our trip south.   I would like to get a new inverter installed before we head south so we can take complete advantage of the solar which is working just fine.

I checked my email tonight and saw a fraud alert.  I called the number and a guy with a heavy accent answered right away and started to ask me for information.  I knew this too was a fraud and hung up.  I called the card company from the numbers on their website and two charges had been made, one declined and one pending.  I stopped the card and canceled the account.  It appears that the account was made up as none of the information was accurate.  It is all so weird as we are in the process of a refinance on our San Antonio rental and last month Yahoo said my account may have been compromised and we changed the password.  Who knows but now I will be monitoring our accounts to make sure all the scam has stopped.  This was in the U.S.

We manage our accounts on line here in Mexico and I monitor them daily just to make sure our charges for fuel and grocery purchases are up to date and see how much I can spend!   I noticed on Saturday that we had no money in one account, missing about 4000 pesos.  I contacted Juan and he said he hadn't spent any money using the debit card in Mexico City.   I told him to go on line and he immediately checked his wallet.  He had dropped it in an office in D.F. and apparently the cards in his wallet had fallen under a desk and he thought he had picked them all up.  It turns out that the security guard must have found the card, went to lunch and spent the money on an expensive meal, new Adidas, GNC products and snacks at the Super 7.  An investigation is underway and we have to wait two weeks for the money to be returned via insurance.   Good thing we caught it.  I won't tell you how many times we have had a conversation about carrying too many things in our wallet!  I have always said, cash in one pocket, an ID and a debit card with only a small amount of cash in the account.  Hmm . . . 

Good thing is, we are always alert and it doesn't matter where you live.  Keep warm if you are in the cold front.  Kevin and Ruth, forget what I just said!