asty.org

So being the great and selfless (did I mention modest?) person I am, I decided to donate to the Red Cross to help with the earthquake relief effort.  This time, I used my relatively new bank card which I had maybe used once, and certainly had not yet used online.  I go to their spiffy web site, enter the info, and boom, donation done.  I think I’ve done a good deed.

Two days later I am checking my bank balance and notice that it’s showing $1200 less than I’d expect.  “That’s odd” I think to myself, so I give the good old bank a call and see what’s going on, since they have some odd issues with deposits being held some amount of time with new accounts, but everything Id deposited had cleared.  After a LOT of hold time and chats with the supervisor it turns out Overstock.com has an order with my credit card on it, except I didnt place it.  “That’s not possible” I say, I’ve just gotten this account and only used it at most twice.

Now dealing with my bank took one phone call, and overstock had to transfer me once to get to their fraud department.  That’s fine, and hold time is fine also, even if it was probably an hour or 90 minutes on the phone, fraud is serious business.

Try getting a hold of someone at the Red Cross to tell them you think you CC– was stolen after you donated.  It’s like a dummy corporation or something.  Should you use the “Fraud, Waste and Abuse” number listed on the web site?  No you silly, there is a separate number for that, no I can’t transfer you!  Call that number. “Oh, no Im not allowed to handle that type of incident, you need to call these folks”.  No transfer.  Third number you can’t even talk to a human being, you’re supposed to leave a message and they will get back to you.  I did, they didn’t.  Finally they have some  random web form which promises a response RSN.  It’s been a week, nada.

I am quite aware of the emergencies going on in the world, but if you expect people to donate you have to have SOME infrastructure in place which ensures

• People’s credit card info is safeguarded
• If it is compromised, you either let your donors know or at least give them a person they can call who can then give them false hope of resolution.

As it stands, Ill have to go back to donating to Doctor’s Without Borders.  Enjoy that money red cross, until I have proof that somehow my virgin credit card was stolen via some other means you’ll not be seeing another dollar from me.