Debbie...

I hate to be a Debbie Downer but some of this might be useful information. I was not able to post yesterday since I was in the midst of dealing with debit card fraud. Somehow a perfect stranger figured out my debit card pin, had my card replicated and drained my account somewhere in Missouri, I have never even been there? It got me to thinking what I was doing differently that could have given someone a window of opportunity and thinking about a few stories I have heard lately, so I thought I'd share, because you never know, maybe we all need to be more careful. In the past month the few things I did that were out of the norm were-I went to an internet cafe because my computer was on the fritz, I swiped my card and it asked for my pin. And, I went to a random ATM machine in a sketchy store downtown when I needed cash. The bank teller said this is a no-no, and that more scams are happening from these types of transactions. Who knows...I think all of us in these times of internet access and economy woes need to be extra careful. I read an article about how break-ins are occuring much more often, and they are highly unsolved types of crime. There are groups of people who scan facebook statuses and twitter and can plan seemlessly, because we're all too open about our next vacation or weekend out of town. Perhaps it's fine for me in a doorman building, but if you have a casa with precious goods - I think the best thing to do is stay tight lipped about getaway plans! In reality you would never shout to a bunch of strangers, "Hey, I'm leaving town for the week and my house is going to be unwatched!" Right?