Last week, I came home to find out that my house was burglarized during the day while I was at work.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Oddly, very little was taken.\u00a0\u00a0 A couple of cameras, some DVDs and a two credit cards.\u00a0\u00a0 The seemed to be looking for cash, but didn’t find any.<\/p>\n
It was the theft of the credit cards along with their neglect of more valuable objects, that lead me to believe that he criminals were hardly master thieves. \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 In fact, I am rather glad that they took my credit cards.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Let me explain.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 First, the credit cards that were laying on my desk, by definition, were the ones I don’t use on a regular basis.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Most of them were acquired in order to obtain a sign up bonus.\u00a0\u00a0 If I used the cards, they would have been with me, in my wallet.<\/p>\n
Of course, taking my credit cards poses no financial risk to myself, as all credit card holders are protected from fraud.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Better yet, their use of my credit cards make it much more likely\u00a0 that they will be caught.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Think about it, there are very few places that you use your credit card without either giving out your address, or being caught on a surveillance camera.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As it happens, the thieves used the credit card at a nearby gas station and a Wal Mart.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When I called to report the cards stolen, I inquired as to their recent use.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The banks were able to give me an exact time and place for their use, which I was able to supply to the police.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The police later informed me that the thieves were caught on camera, increasing the chances that they will be apprehended.<\/p>\n
There are many psychological issues with coming to grips with the fact that people entered your house and went through your belongings.\u00a0\u00a0 One of the practical challenges of recovering from a burglary is inventorying what you have and what is missing.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Since most of the credit cards that are in my house are the ones that I got for their sign up bonuses, they are actually just the personal and business cards for my wife and I, from just two banks.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That made it easier to contact just two banks.\u00a0\u00a0 If I had lost my wallet, I would have probably had to make more calls.<\/p>\n
The biggest problem in making the calls was that I was only able to tell the banks what cards I had, not knowing the numbers of the cards that were stolen.\u00a0\u00a0 Unfortunately,\u00a0 something was lost in communication as one of the cards in my wallet was inadvertently canceled.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The next day, I had replacements overnighted to my house.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Frankly, I was not looking forward to the task of activating all of those cards.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I finally got around to it today.\u00a0\u00a0 There was, of course, no hurry as the cards were ones I don’t use.<\/p>\n
What I don’t like about activating cards is that banks typically take the opportunity to try to market all sorts of stuff to you.\u00a0\u00a0 I think of this as “reverse telemarketing”.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Before the “do not call” list, telemarketers called you to try to sell you stuff that you don’t want.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Now, they just wait until you call them, and they don’t let\u00a0 you hang up until they have made their pitch.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fortunately, both banks I contacted had the good taste not telemarket to me.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I can on assume that the representatives are not prompted to do so when the card being activated is a replacement card from an\u00a0 existing account that was sent due to the theft of the original.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kudos to Citibank and Amex for their discretion.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Another good thing was that I was able to activate all cards from each bank with a single phone call, rather than re-authenticate myself over and over again.<\/p>\n
In Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n Credit cards can be a real pain some times.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fortunately, it is experiences like this where they really shine.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Because I use credit cards as my primary method of payment, I rarely carry any cash, and never have any cash at home.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I don’t do this for security sake, but it turns out to be a very secure way to handle your finances.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In fact, I am glad that I had some credit cards laying around in plain sight.\u00a0\u00a0 If the burglars are ever caught, it will probably be in part because they were stupid enough to steal and use my credit cards.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Finally, if there is one thing that credit card companies seem to be very good at, it is supporting their card holders when their cards are stolen.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Everyone I talked to was friendly and sympathetic.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 They gave me information that may help catch the burglar, and sent me new cards by overnight mail.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No, they were not perfect, canceling one of my cards that I told them was not stolen, but if the Denver Police were as efficient, I might even have my stuff back by now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last week, I came home to find out that my house was burglarized during the day while I was at work.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Oddly, very little was taken.\u00a0\u00a0 A couple of cameras, some DVDs and a two credit cards.\u00a0\u00a0 The seemed to be looking for cash, but didn’t find any. It was the theft of the credit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n