Last week I checked my bank balance and found it at negative $5, which wasn’t right at all. I called the bank and they ran through some recent charges and several came from online operations that I had no dealings with. Suspicious. Then I got my bank statement, and discovered these same two companies had charged me mulitple times over the past six weeks. There was also an iffy charge from Yahoo (me not having a Yahoo account or anything).

Today I called the bank back and found charges from these same companies going back to the end of August (about the time I was in Atlanta at Dragon Con). I contacted each company in turn to find out what the fuck. I found that these thieving scum had used all kinds of names and addresses to sign up for a variety of internet services. Turns out there was a $114 charge from the end of August, again from Yahoo, to set up a .biz website. Of course, they couldn’t tell me what website. They wouldn’t want to violate the confidentiality of thieves!

In midst of all this bs, this one guys says, “Looks like you were charged $29.95 for a three month subscription to our archive service. If you like, you can extend the subscription for three more months for only $14.95”

Incredulous, I said, “Why would I want to extend the subscription on something I didn’t sign up for in the first place!? I’m trying to get my money back here.” He thought maybe I’d want to “try it out.” Unbelievable.

Naturally enough, none of these companies would actually refund the money. I had to then call my bank, provide them transaction dates and amounts, and declare the charges fraudulent. And, of course, I had to cancel my card.

My new card will arrive in 7-10 days. That’s going to help me a lot when I’m in San Francisco this weekend.

Urge to kill…rising.