Lebanese Loop Bastardos!

So over the weekend I was walking around with Roscoe in Manhattan and I went to flag down a cab to head back to Brooklyn (dogs are not allowed on the subway). I hit an ATM to take out money for the cab and it said my card was 'invalid'. I was like, 'Huh?' I walked to another ATM but I was downtown and they were sort of hard to find. Plus I can't use deli ATMs because they don't let dogs in there and I don't like leaving Roscoe all alone tied to parking meters. So we walked and walked. And it got colder and darker. I'd find a another bank. 'Invalid card.' Another ATM 'Invalid card!' I was like, 'What! I'm used to insufficient funds... but invalid?'

Finally I called my bank and they told me my card was cancelled. I was like, 'What? Why?' The guy was like, 'I dunno. Call on Monday.' I was like, 'Arrgh! Computer glitch bastards.' The bigger problem was I was stuck in the city with my dog with no way to get home. So I decided to take Roscoe down into the subway and deal with cops if they bother me.

Which led to a bigger problem. Roscoe doesn't like going down stairs that go under the street. He backs off of them like a big whimpery wimp. So I had to pick him up (37 lbs now) and carry him down the stairs like a big baby. Then I had to get out my metro card and carry him through the turnstile. He was nervous on the trainplatform and I had to pick him up again to carry him onto the train because he didn't like it.

Anyway, today I called up Chase Manhattan and after getting transferred around 12 times (literally. i was bouncing off the walls.) I found out the reason my card was shut off was because someone stole money out of my account! They flagged it and shut it down. Four separate transactions from Las Vegas! My wallet was in my card! I was like, 'Huh?' But apparently some ATM I went to recently was equipped with a "skimmer or lebanese loop." Chase is going to put the money back in my account. Phew.

Here's some info:

ATM Skimmers or Lebanese Loops
ATM Skimmers are devices used to steal your ATM card or the information on it, as well as the Personal Identification Number (PIN) associated with that card. One type of skimmer is a thin, transparent-plastic overlay on an ATM keypad that captures keystrokes as they are typed while another transparent device inside the card slot captures data from the magnetic strip on the inserted card. Other skimmers are larger and fit over the entire face of the ATM.

Just another thing to be paranoid about. I'll add it to the list. :-(

ok bye!

tOdd