As most of you may know, luck has not really been on my side within the last few weeks. I lost my job on the 29th, the dog got sprayed by a skunk on the 1st, woke up to fraudulent PayPal transactions on the 2nd and just found out over the weekend that someone in NY stole my identity and opened not 1 but 3 store credit cards with the likes of Macy's Nordstrom and Bloomingdales. They attempted to open a 4th with Target but the application was denied, THANK GOD!

I guess what bothers me the most about this whole situation is that we do everything we're supposed to. We own a micro-cut shredder and all sensitive information, including old bank statements, bills etc go through it. Nothing gets tossed in the mail blindly and if it does it may have nothing more than a name and address on it in the case of magazines.

As I write this I am waiting for the local police to arrive to file a report, and then I will be filing a separate one with the FTC. I guess besides my needing to rant, this post is a cautionary tale to all as it is proof that you can still do everything right and still get hit.

***UPDATE****

Yet another card showed up in the mail today. This one was from Victoria's Secret and apparently the crooks ran up the full balance at Bath & Body Works... Guess I now have good smelling, well dressed thief's running around Brooklyn NY with my info....