I am a victim of credit card fraud!

Thursday, May 22, I received an automated call from American Express about some unusual activity on my account. I don’t use this card very often — mostly to pay my monthly alarm system and critter killing fees. I was only mildly concerned. The last time I received a call like this (from Discover), the charges were mine. I figured it was something similar.

I called the next morning (Friday, May 23, 2008) to find out what was going on. The American Express account rep asked “Did you make a purchase at Beauty Source?” Beauty Source? What the eff is Beauty Source? “It’s in California,” she said. Then I knew.

“No, that’s not my charge,” I told her. She asked me whether I was in California, and had I lost my card. No on both counts. I haven’t set foot in Cali in about three years, and I held the card in my hand. WTF?

I immediately logged in to AmericanExpress.com to see what else, if anything, was charged to the card.

Sure enough, $51.38 had been charged to my account at a Shell station in San Leandro, CA. It’s probably the one at 2175 Marina Blvd. That station is only 2.5 miles away from Beauty Source (1327 Washington Avenue).

No problem, American Express said. We’ll issue you a new card with a new number. Cool.

Today (Sunday, May 25) I logged in to AmericanExpress.com (I check my accounts almost daily, even under normal circumstances). There was another $741 of ‘Recent Activity.’ WTF? It seems Shaniqua an’nem were running around the East Bay Area Thursday having a field day with my credit card number. Where did they go?

Jack in the Box
780 Marina Blvd, San Leandro, CA (About a mile from Beauty Source, and 2.4 miles from the Shell station)

Jack in the Box
6510 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, CA (about 14 miles from Beauty Source)

Denny’s
1776 Powell St, Emeryville, CA (also about 14 miles from Beauty Source, and only five miles from that Oakland Jack in the Box)

That’s right: this chick (or chicks) used my credit card to buy some Hawaiian Silky and a Grand Slam breakfast. They’re not even major league thieves. If you must use someone else’s credit card number, go big! Buy a Gucci bag or something — not a dozen packs of curly #4.

Now the roundness of the amounts charged — a $35 charge at the Oakland Jack in the Box appears seven times — suggests to me that she may have tried to charge an amount that wouldn’t set off alarms.

I’d also guess that this woman lives in San Leandro, and works at the Jack in the Box in Oakland — or has a shady a** cousin who does. She could also work at Denny’s. Again, the amounts are so round and so frequent I’d bet money that this woman is a cashier or waitress at one of these places. I wouldn’t be surprised if she regularly buys gas at that Shell station.

I will file a police report here in DeKalb County and have them forward it to the Emeryville, San Leandro and Oakland police departments. I know this won’t be their top priority, but I hope they do care enough to catch the [insert the expletives of your choice] responsible.