The Best $6.50 I’ve Ever Spent

A week ago Thursday, I got a call from my bank that I hope none of you ever receive.  The nervous manager on the other end of the line asked, “Mr. Poe—you haven’t been to Aruba, Dublin, Amsterdam, or the Netherlands in the last 36 hours… have you?”  “No, ma’am. Why? Is there a problem?”  “Well, yes.  Actually, there’s a big problem…”

the sequence »
Turns out, someone got hold of either mine or Jenny’s debit card information and went on a day-and-a-half long shopping spree with our money. They bought everything from tickets on Delta Airlines, to perfumes in Dublin, and even made a conference call on Skype! Even though it was a fairly significant amount, I honestly wasn’t upset or panicking at all. In fact, my bank manager noticed my calmness and even asked, “You do understand what I’m telling you, don’t you? Two days ago you had $X in your account, and today you only have $X.”

the conflict »
After I found out that $X had been stolen, I totally freaked out and didn’t have a clue what to do. My wife and I got into a huge fight that night over which bills we would pay and which bills we wouldn’t.  Even after all that, we still bounced 6 ACH transactions and 2 checks. Three years later, we started getting collection letters from all the companies that the criminal stole from, claiming we owned them the money.

the climax »
By happy luck, I had just taken my Financial Peace University group through the Clause and Effect lesson not three weeks earlier, so all of this was fresh on my mind. I explained to the bank manager that the money had been stolen from my account, and I was aware the bank was responsible for reimbursing any and all lost funds. Furthermore, I let her know that my wife and carry Identity Theft Insurance from Zander Insurance, so even if there ended being a problem at the bank—our backs were covered. We followed all the right steps to get the mess cleaned up, and we lived off a separate bank account until the funds from our main account were moved to our new account.

the resolution »
Look, MSNBC reports that 1 out of 12 American’s will become victims of identity theft, and it will take you WEEKS to properly get out of the mess if you don’t have someone doing the heavy fighting for you. ESPECIALLY if you’re still think you’re winning by playing with a mega-bank (dumb idea). The truth is, you seriously need to have good identity theft protection. My experience with Zander couldn’t have been better. They went to bat for me, and got the whole thing resolved in a matter of a few days. Start protecting your most powerful wealth building tool—your income—immediately!

your ideas are essential »
Have you ever had your identity stolen? How did it make you feel to know that someone else went off and spent YOUR money?