Statement on Statements

I'll admit it: I'm not a huge statement-reader. Part of that is because they're, well, boring. And part is because I tend to spend more than I care to admit, even to myself, and statements put it out there in black and white.

But last month, my credit card got hacked. Someone stole the number and started charging airline tickets to Thailand and Egypt on it. My card provider caught the charges, shut the card down, and issued me a new one.

Case closed, right?

Not quite. Because today, I decided to go online and read my statement. And lo and behold, I was never credited back for those charges.

A quick call to the card company seems to have fixed the problem--they told me to expect credit by next Tuesday for the fraudulent transactions. But it reminded me how important diligence is when things like this happen. Even the bank can't be trusted to do their jobs, sadly, and if I hadn't checked up on it, I'd have paid an extra $700 that I never even charged.

I learned my lesson. I'm a diligent statement reader, as of today. I hope you'll follow me.