My pal Sergio and I have an almost-every-night phone conversation around Midnight. That's when we both like to work and things are quiet at our respective homes. I moved us up to 10 PM last night because I'm battling a mid-level cold and what works for me is lotsa water and lotsa sleep — preferably not at the same time. So I went to bed around 10:30 and was awakened an hour later by a call from my credit card company. It seems one of my credit cards decided to go on an all-out spending spree without me.
This has happened before and when one does, that card becomes a victim of Cancel Culture. A new card with a new number will be dispatched to me tout de suite.
Much of this process was arranged with me "talking" to robo-people but one matter came up which required them to connect me with an Actual Human Being. These days, I'm sometimes surprised that some companies employ any. The person or persons using my credit card info made about six charges on it in about fifteen minutes.
I asked the Actual Human Being who was on the line with me, "Just out of curiosity, how much of the merchandise they charged did they get away with? The A.H.B. said, "None of it. They were all mail orders. Those things never ship immediately and certainly not at this hour on a Saturday night. There was plenty of time to freeze the orders and check with the cardholder and then cancel the orders. The merchandise never left whatever shelf it was on."
She went on: "People who use stolen credit cards or stolen credit card numbers in retail stores often get away with their fake purchases. By the time our computers get suspicious and check with the cardholder, the customers are out the door and on their way with the loot. But we're getting better and better at stopping online credit card fraud of this kind."
I asked her why people still attempt it with online orders when the majority of the time, they don't get away with it. She replied, "I guess because a lot of people are stupid."
I'm going to remember that. I think it's the answer to more questions in my life than I've realized.