Fraudulent Charges?

In the aftermath of the credit card scandal, I have been picking up the pieces of my life. Much of the moving on has involved feeding my feelings. From Belgian bites to Neapolitan pizza to classic American fare, I have put my new AMEX card to use in the two days since it arrived at my home.

While I thought my phone calls to the credit card companies had negated the fraudulent charges incurred from Wednesday evening, my online statements suggest otherwise. As you can see below from an excerpt from my Capital One statement, the first three charges were not mine. They appear to be typical charges, but they occurred after the card was stolen. For one, my car does not take $70 worth of gas, but Capital One does not know this. Anyways, I showed this activity statement below to my mom online to so she could see the unauthorized charges that had posted so far.

And then I noticed the item pasted at the bottom.

Posted Date	Description	All Categories Payment Fee Interest Charge ------------------ Airfare Car Rental Dining Entertainment Gas/Automotive Healthcare Insurance Internet Lodging Merchandise Other Other Bills Other Services Other Travel Phone/Cable Professional Services Utilities	Amount
AUG 27, 2010	EXXONMOBIL 47828272 ARLINGTON VA	Gas/Automotive	$70.59
AUG 27, 2010	WASH METRORAIL00006304 WASHINGTON DC	Other Travel	$60.00
AUG 27, 2010	WASH METRORAIL00006304 WASHINGTON DC	Other Travel	$60.00
AUG 26, 2010	TAYLOR GOURMET 485 K LLC WASHINGTON DC	Dining	$15.51
AUG 23, 2010	INTEREST CHARGE:SPECIAL TRANS	Interest Charge	$18.66
AUG 19, 2010	UNITED AIR 0162112233068 ROSEMONT IL	Airfare	$221.40
AUG 18, 2010	CARMINE'S WASHINGTON DC	Dining	$29.20
AUG 17, 2010	CAPITAL ONE ONLINE PYMT AuthDate 17-AUG	Payment	($293.14)
AUG 13, 2010	24 HOURS OF BOOTY 704-365-4417 NC	Other	$25.00

24 Hours of Booty?! A twinge of panic hit me. What in the...ohhhhh, yeah. While my mom's eyes scanned my charges, I was quick to mention that charge there.

Me: "Oh, look at that charge there. Hahaha, haha. You would think that'd be something inappropriate, right, Mom? Well you see, the thing is, I have this friend Carl..."

Mom: "What is THAT?"

Me: "As I was saying, my friend Carl is participating in this 24-hour bike ride to benefit cancer research, and I contributed to the cause online. You'd THINK that would be something kinky, right? Hahaha!"

The Lance Armstrong Foundation organizes these 24-hour bike rides in different cities across the country, and Carl had signed up for the one in Columbia, MD this weekend.

Now, what I should've done is pretend it was indeed something salacious. Here's how that would all go.

Me: "What the he-I have no idea how that-How did that charge get on there?! Those bandits sure must be at it again (insert nervous laugh). I'm outraged that they would soil my name with that trash!"

Mom: "But, Hilary, that charge is from August 13. That was over a week ago..."

Me: "Oh, that's so strange, they must've manipulated the system somehow-hey what's that over there?"(furiously pushes ALT F4 to close browser window)

Then I'd leave my poor mom cursing the 18 years of her life she spent raising me. Good thing it was a legit, wholesome charge. And, she did raise me right. I'm smart enough to know not to show her my AMEX statement. KIDDING, Mom. Kidding!