what happened in maj’s world?

// January 23rd, 2008 // personal

RIP Heath Ledger
Hollywood.com

Heath Ledger found dead on Mary Kate Olson’s apartment is the most SHOCKING news I heard today. It’s not like he’s career on downfall or something (compare to Brad Renfro, another young actor that died recently). Thankfully that he has finished all his scene for the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight. Still, his sudden death is a sad news for movie fans everywhere.

In the meantime, Oscar nomination has been announced today. No Tom Hanks for best actor and Angelina Jolie for best actress. I haven’t seen Charlie Wilson’s War or neither A Mighty Heart, so I don’t know if I should be sad with this news.

However, they have Juno which my second favorite movie this year (after the fantastic Order of the Phoenix). I’ll write my prediction soon.

The last one, someone hijacked my husband Debit Card today. He got email from his bank stated that there were some suspicious activities with his card. Apparently, someone tried to buy something from Victoria Secret (I never even bought something from there) with the price more than $ 200. Fortunately, it didn’t get through. However, they succeed to use his “card” to pay some food at Jack in the Box and drink from StarBucks. The weird thing is, he doesn’t lose his card or something, but according to his bank, those thief probably making a “copy” of his card somehow. So, he decide to close his account temporarily. So far, we have lost only around $ 20. Still couldn’t figure it out how on earth they got his pin number. So, to all of you that like to use debit card, make sure you don’t put too much on it, so if someone ever stole it, you won’t lose too many. I read that many people has lost even more than $ 1200. I consider us pretty lucky. Still, I feel like I need to know who the thief is and how they do that (*)

3 Responses to “what happened in maj’s world?”

  1. Antimatter says:
    January 23, 2008 at 2:50 am

    The Ledger news was a shock alright! Shame, he was a talented actor and could have been one of the greats in the years to come. His Dark Knight performance looks like it’ll be a fitting swan song though.

    As for your card, I believe this happens when dodgy establishments or individuals use a different type of card reader that scans and stores the data in the magnetic stripe of the card. They can then use this to create a duplicate card that is exactly the same as the original. It was in all probability done while making a legitimate payment somewhere. See this.

    I believe card companies provide some protection against damages in this kind of fraud – the merchant can be made to ‘chargeback’ the amount. Though… I’m not certain about this… you’d best check. Wikipedia states (regarding credit cards) “U.S. Federal Law can hold the cardholder victim responsible for up to $50. Merchants in high-risk industries, like unattended automated fuel pumps or Internet sales, anticipate a certain amount of credit card fraud, and set prices accordingly. These higher costs are then passed onto the customer.” So I guess beyond $50 you’re entitled to a chargeback… though, I’m not sure if chargebacks apply to debit cards or only to credit cards though.

    Wikipedia’s entry on debit cards has this to say:
    “In many places, laws protect the consumer from fraud a lot less than with a credit card. While the holder of a credit card is legally responsible for only a minimal amount of a fraudulent transaction made with a credit card, which is often waived by the bank, the consumer may be held liable for hundreds of dollars in fraudulent debit transactions. The consumer also has a much shorter time (usually just two days) to report such fraud to the bank in order to be eligible for such a waiver with a debit card[15], whereas with a credit card, this time may be up to 60 days. A thief who obtains or clones a debit card along with its PIN may be able to clean out the consumer’s bank account, and the consumer will have no recourse.”

    Which is why, in general, it’s safer to use credit cards (also, the money doesn’t come directly out of your bank account with credit cards, another plus).

  2. miedy says:
    January 24, 2008 at 4:09 pm

    Wow.. thanks for the information. That’s very helpful. I think this is a good lesson for us for not using debit card that much. I’m so thankful that we only have little money in there and we use different account for our saving, but actually my husband’s paycheck went to THAT account, we we’re gonna change it now of course. According to the bank, we can still get our money back so that’s a good thing I guess.

  3. Antimatter says:
    January 25, 2008 at 8:38 am

    Good to hear you didn’t lose out then, if the bank’s compensating you for the loss! :)

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