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Hackers

On Wednesday, when the temps got above freezing, we decided that we really needed to buy some food.  When we were finished at the store, I swiped my debit card, and it was declined.  Really?  I only had about forty dollars worth.  The checker tried it again; declined again.  Hub tried his, and it was declined.   I felt something akin to panic and the checker advised us to talk to the bank, ASAP.


In just a few minutes, the bank informed us they had put a hold on our account, because someone was trying to get funds that they had not worked for.  A big shout out to Bank Independent for paying attention.


I have a couple of hints for the hacker:


1. Men who have lived in North Alabama all their lives do not speak with a heavy Middle-Eastern accent.  The person at the bank knew immediately that you were an impersonator, and although you were able to access all of our security questions, you were not able to answer questions about the area where we live.


2. Since you are smart enough to hack computers, have you ever thought about getting an honest job?  ITs can make a lot a money, although probably not as much as you make stealing. 


After spending several hours at the bank on Wednesday and Thursday, we now have a new account, new debit cards, new checks, and a new awareness of how easy it is for evil people to invade your privacy.  Of course, every automatic payment and deposit had to be renewed, too.


The bank told us that we make it very easy for hackers when we use WiFi in public places, which I have done a lot in the past, but no more.  We did not shop at Target when they had their security breach, but for a week in December, we were at a resort where we used unprotected WiFi.  Be careful!

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