I was having a pretty good day

[chrystalline]

until I logged onto my computer this evening. It's wet and cold outside (has been for days) but I'm usually pretty philosophical about that. I put on more layers (and lately, a knit hat) and settle in to do whatever I was already going to do.

I was not happy with what I found tonight. First, I kept getting incorrect password notices in Thunderbird when I tried to download my email. When I realized it was my main email address, I pulled up a browser and logged in that way. Apparently someone in Russia has been trying to use my gmail. I had to change my password and go through the options for tighter security in gmail, which took a while.

I'm getting really annoyed with these ID thieves. In the last year, I've had my Facebook locked out twice, because someone in MS (or LA?) and NJ (I think I'm remembering the right states) tried to log into my FB with a mobile device. What's even more annoying is that when I changed the FB password last, I forgot that I would need to change it on LJ, too, so that I can crosspost properly. For those of you who follow me on FB and not LJ, this is also notice of the post yesterday. Anyway, I've set up the two-step login for gmail, irritating as that is, because apparently I need the added security.

When I did finally get my email, I had a notice that the coffeetable order was cancelled because they had trouble with my card. Now, I didn't want to give them my linked-to-my-checking-account debit card, because I've never used this site before, so I went and got one of those prepaid debit cards at the grocery store. They told me I'd need to call or go to the website to activate the card, but the lady on the phone said it was activated when I bought it. I'd called because when I tried to activate on the website, they wanted everything: Name, address, phone, birthdate and SSN. To fight money laundering, they say. To send a permanent reloadable debit card. I say, you don't need all that, and I don't want a permanent card from you. Unfortunately, it looks like opting out of that may be the cause of my troubles with the order. I'll call the ordering company tomorrow and see what I can do, but my predictable time off ends this week - sending the table next week means I may not be home when the delivery comes. Then there's the question of how to deal with the prepaid card if they can't accept it anyway. Arrgh.

I also had to answer direct emails asking questions that were already answered on the group site. It never ceases to amaze me how people can fail to comprehend plain English.

(LJ also sent me an email about an unfamiliar IP login, but it was just my new IP at my house)

Comments

[mellymell.livejournal.com]

Ugh! The worst I've had is two isolated incidents where someone hijacked my Yahoo mail and Twitter to send spam. Twitter was pretty awesome about it actually. Before I even noticed the spam tweet sent from my account, they had sent me an email saying there was a suspicious login. Since then, I've turned on the 2-step verification on all my gmail accounts (because with an Android phone, losing access to that account is just not an option). It was annoying at first because I had to keep a list of codes handy. But if you have a smartphone, they've got a code generating app. And there's the new-ish feature where you can verify your IP for like 30 days, I think.

Did the site you ordered the table from not have a secure checkout page or something? Maybe I'm too trusting, but I've never really hesitated to buy things online if I at least trust that the company will actually send me the item I order and they have some sort of encryption on their site. I'm more wary about handing a server my card to go in the back and run it at a restaurant, quite honestly. Most banks offer a certain amount of protection against fraud that I'm not sure you'd get with a prepaid card.

[chrystalline.livejournal.com]

How did I never see this until now? Weird.

Gmail generated a code for my Thunderbird, and I saved it in Thunderbird, so I don't have to mess with it. It's only good for Thunderbird, so trying to use it on a mobile device (which seems to be the scammers' preference) won't work. I only have to deal with the two-step when I log in via web, which I don't do very often. A minor annoyance, but definitely better than finding out Russian criminals have gotten into my email.

It's not so much the secure page as much as it is the not knowing them and the debit vs credit issue. I made the mistake of overloading my credit card when I could have used my debit card at a location I knew and trusted, and it takes two days for payment to clear the credit card and give me room to charge that much more. I've been living on the edge of my credit limit for a long time, and I would have a lot more trouble clearing up the mess if fraudulent charges emptied my checking account than if fraudulent charges ran up my credit card balance. My mom ordered something from an unfamiliar website once, and while we did get the merchandise we ordered, someone involved in that company also rang up several hundred dollars' worth of other merchandise from that site, which we found out when the credit card staff called her to ask if she'd ordered all of that. If that happened to my checking account, I wouldn't be able to pay my bills while we sorted out the mess, and then I'd have late fees and penalties on top of everything else.

I did eventually get the table; once my credit card payment cleared, I could charge it there, though the mix up left me tight on funds for a month, and the delivery had to leave it propped against my front door until I got home.