28 January 2007

Campaign Contributions



You know that you have been using your credit card too much when you have it memorized, and no longer actually have to pull it out of the wallet to know what the account number is. The expiration date is easy, though capricious, and the kicker is the three digit code on the back of the card that provides really-super duper security, since only you and the rest of the internet know what it is once you have filled in an on-line form.

Someone got me on Friday. I am not saying it is the Richardson Campaign, since it could have been any number of thieves. Maybe the shifty looking bartender at Ted's Montana Grill. Maybe some anonymous hacker somewhere in China, though the bogus charges suggest something else.

I suspect the Richardson campaign because Bill sent me an e-mail saying that he regretted the inconvenience, since he was no longer actually running for President, but the last bills from New Hampshire were still on the table, and he would really appreciate it if I could kick in and help clean them up before he went back to governing New Mexico full time.

I sighed, and said “in for a penny, in for a pound.” In a vain hope to be the SECDEF after Mr. Gates, or maybe Director of National Intelligence in the first Richardson Administration, I had been contributing a cautious amount every time I was asked. That was almost a year ago I first typed in the data, and I might have had to look at the card to do it.

This time typed in the thirteen digits from memory, the expiration date, a modest dollar amount commensurate with my diminished expectations, and the acknowledgment that I was not an agent of a foreign power and over the age of 18.

It was a little ironic.

If I were a political campaign shutting down, the first person I would let go would be my network and systems administrator. I don't blame them for having a sour grapes feeling about the whole thing. I have some myself, what with all the grand aspirations dashed on the altar of Obama's charisma and the vicious Clinton political machine.

What leads me to the conclusion is the type of charges that started to show up on my account on Friday. There was a $2 charge to the Apple Store, which was the big tip off. Stolen cards are normally tried in a purely nominal dollar amount to see if they are good- which suggests that whoever had the list of contributors and their credit vehicles sold it off, and the ultimate recipient wanted to see which of the fish were still alive.

When the charge against my account went through, the shopping spree started. I do not think it was the Russians, since they would have bought tons of sensitive electronic devices, or Chinese, who would have bankrupted me in oil futures.

Instead, there was a sort of sweet charge for perfumes or other fragrances in the amount of $38.00,   which is probably someone's preparations for Valentines day, and a $400 swipe at the Apple Store, I imagine for an iPhone.

I mean, that is too little for a computer and too much for an iPod, so I assume someone used my account to get a little present for their sweetie and then called them up to tell them about it.

I only became aware of the matter when my account filled the tank of my lovely silver Hubrismobile at the Navy Exchange Gas station, and in the space of hitting the ATM machine with my bank card, was invalid to purchase strong spirits inside the store a few minutes later.

Sorting it out with the Fraud Division late on Sunday was interesting, and I have no idea how deep the damage is going to be, since I can no longer access transaction activity on-line. The account has been cancelled, and now resides only in the bank vault.

I do not even begin to know how many places that string of numbers resides; Amazon, for one, and eBay for sure. A club downtown, certainly. I imagine I will be hearing from them as the charges bounce back.

It is s shame, really, since I don't think I have the energy to try to memorize a new string of numbers. One thing is certain: when I get the new account information I am not going to contribute to any politicians.

Copyright 2008 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com

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