Victim of fraud

I was rudely awakened last Saturday morning by my cell phone ringing. Being far away from home, I react to an untimely phone call with a sense of dread. Luckily it was my bank...wait a minute, it cant be...what they are saying cant be true....looks like someone has been trying to use my debit card repeatedly in the ATM and it was now blocked! Like any decently married (and employed) professional, I use my ATM card only to deposit money into my account. All the spending happens from Sathiq's side. So I told the person on the other line that it definitely wasnt me. And he calmy informed me that I m a victim of fraud....the biggest menace of our times

The operator then started asking me questions like my drivers license number and Sathiq was up in a jiffy, waving his hands no...I was even more confused and he had his laptop open and was showing me an article on how people claiming to be from the bank call you up and ask you for your confidential info....I immediately hung up. God, who do you trust!

Well I logged into my account and immediately found that the call was true...somebody had made a transfer from my account...luckily it was into one of my other accounts. I understood the reason for this when I looked at the other transactions. I keep a very low balance in my checking account as I use it only in dire emergencies . Whoever hacked into my account must have understood the state of affairs. They immediately transferred money from my savings account ( the bank staunchly refuses to let me know how they allowed this to happen as it was a phone transfer) and started spending my money.

Well the whole incident has left me feeling so helpless. I dont know how I can trust any system again. I have been checking my account atleast 5 times a day and each time I log in I m keeping my fingers crossed. Well the bank has advised me of the following steps:

1. Close all my accounts - a real pain since some of them have auto-transfers/debits set up
2. Open new accounts - I have done it for the moment, but I m not really sure I want to keep my money in this bank anymore (they are the nation's number one, I hope atleast number two has better security measures)
3. File claims for the fraudulent transactions - another pain and I m yet to do this
4. File a police complaint - this was advised by my friends, since it seems there might be a good chance I can expect more of this since my identity has been compromised now.

I still cant figure out how this happened. I do not use my CC or debit card online unless I m very sure the site is a secure one. And contrary to what Sathiq believes, I do not go around reciting my SSN to anyone who calls me up. The only way I can think of is either somewhere the internet connection was insecure or somebody has got hold of my SSN.

As a part of employment, we are mandated to submit a hard copy of the employment verification form which asks for your full SSN alongwith all the other critical info. This we hope gets stored securely and are not accessible by anyone. But how can any of us ensure that. Being a consultant, I work with a new client every 6-12 months. How can I be sure that my information is secure. I believe it is high time that this is be reformed considering that technology has improved so much that if somebody gets your key data, then you are finished... be it anywhere from getting access to your medical history to your bank account.

Well I hope I have succesfully put a stop to my problem. But the reality, there is no way I will be sure. I have to live in constant fear of when and how it will strike me next.

Long time no see

Been atleast 2 months since I last blogged. Although this time, I had promised myself that I will be a regular, I lost track. Again.
Well, I got a new job last month and that's kept me busy. I had taken a temporary hiatus for more than 6 months and getting back to work mode has not been easy. Well I guess I just have to complain.
Anyway, work is ok. Its close to home, so that s the biggest highlight. Not too hectic, point two in favor. But I guess the list ends there. Still have to settle in. Well will crib about it later. Dont think I have much ammo now.
This week, we kind of settled back into a routine. We spent most of the time, catching up with Sathiq's friends. People are moving out, buying homes, giving up homes, planning to move to other places for home...Well it has started us wondering about what we want. As usual, the introspections are happening, but havent made much ground.

Well, i think its too depressing to introspect on a Sunday evening and came to blog:) The coming week is going to be interesting. I have to get some work on my plate, from somebody who I m transitioning from. Not looking forward to it at all. Well have to brace myself and do it, or its going to look pretty bad. But have couple of meetings planned for the latter half of the week. Looking forward to meeting new people and learning some new things..Lets c how it turns out.

what is it about Fridays that makes it so endearing?

I have often wondered, why people in general seem so happy that it is a Friday. The most obvious answer is, the weekend is here. This leaves us time to take a break from whatever we are doing and enjoy other activities. We plan to meet up with friends, go sample a new restaurant, catch up on our chores, cook something special or just relax.

For me personally, I start Friday with the feeling that, ok couple of more hours to finish whatever I need to do and then I m done! What a wonderful feeling to start a day. When I was working, I usually leave all the catching up and follow up jobs for Friday. I keep the meetings short, sort through the week's work and then make plans for the coming week. Honestly, writing this down, I m impressed myself. But I realize now that keeping things orderly comes naturally to me. This might be the one good gene passed on from my mother to me. And to my husband, this is his constant pain. My desire to arrange and plan and meticulously details things. Ok I m not going to drift now; lets discuss my (un?)attractive qualities some other time.

Like I was saying, all this planning and looking back gives me a lot of satisfaction. I feel there is nothing pending for the next day on my plate. This in turn makes me more relaxed, makes me start thinking of fun things to do, like crash at somebody's house for a nice chat, enjoy a good meal and lately do something outdoors. Also I get to spend time with Sathiq, watching a good movie or talking about our friends and family or something we both like. And lately I have been a regular at the mosque for the Friday namaaz. This is one thing I have come to enjoy a lot. I like the feeling of joining a lot of strangers, standing shoulder to shoulder and worshiping. I enjoy the piece and quiet and general feeling of belonging. Well the point is each of us have our own reasons to enjoy the weekend.

But then, why does Friday make it better than a Saturday? And I think it is because, we homosapiens in general, love the feeling that there is something around the corner, than actually having it. Like Shakespear said "Anticipation is better than prize" in Hamlet. You know that you have all these plans and at that point, the possibility in your mind is, I m going to enjoy doing this. When you actually do it, whether it lives upto your expectation is pure chance. I personally like what Keats had to say on the subject " Heard melodies are sweet but those unheard are sweeter...."

Bottom line - Fridays are the best!

I can bake too!

After multiple attempts baking ready-to-bake cake mixes, I finally worked up my courage to attempt the Moist Honey Cake recipe (from scratch) which my friend, Nisha had put up on her blog - http://mykitchenantics.blogspot.com/2010/03/oh-honey-honey.html

Inspite of all my attempts to botch it ( I was so engrossed in using my new measuring cups that I passed over the rest of the metric system- forgot to convert Centigrade to Fahrenheit and ended up broiling the cake for a good 40 min. i was completely clueless when the fork i inserted came out cleanly since the cake was still in liquid state. finally caught on and then hiked up the temp n had the cake made in a total of 1:20 min),...ok let me continue; inspite of my (innocent) attempts to botch it, the cake came out so well, that I m eternally indebted to Nisha for the rest of my life. U see, the look on Sathiq's face after he tasted it was something I had never seen before ;)

to celebrate, i treated myself to Julie and Julia, a wonderful finale to my great day. I ended up identifying so much with Julia during the movie which i think marks a great movie. u see i m also in my late twenties, in and out of work, so caught up in trying to figure out what i want to do in life. All the while totally forgetting to appreciate the loving, constant surety in my life, my husband. so yesterday marked a change in my usual life pattern, where i made it all about appreciating sathiq. and to be honest, i found out i like giving a lot more than taking :)

i m not sure how long i will be in this state of mind. given what i know of myself, i will lapse into my self-centered, patronizing, demanding way of mind more often than not. But at least i will do a self-introspection often to see if i m taking the time to enjoy my life, the way it is.

Can it get any worse?

today morning i woke up with a bad feeling. things weren't going at the pace i expected it to. i m spending all most the whole day searching and applying for a new job. i just can't understand why it is taking so long. u really have to be in this position to understand how frustrating it is. i remember chatting with sudheesh about this yday. meera (his wife) is also in the same boat it seems. it feels like everyone else in your life has a purpose and you are the only one kind of staying static waiting for everyone else to come back.

today i applied for a decent position via an internet job board. minutes later i get a reply...i m all excited scrolling through it, and....they have sent me something else, which they felt is more suitable for me. o.k. deep breaths i tell myself. its a much much junior position than i was doing and at a much much lower rate. still i brace myself and call the recruiter, only to realize its for the same team that i had worked with 6 months earlier, through one more layer of vendor n a fraction of the earlier rate. This tops my experience as of now!

PS - I hope I don't get many more to beat this :(

oh about that therapy

i think i conveniently omitted to disclose the fact, that it took me just one chance to go back to my devious ways again...wen, oh wen am i going to learn my lesson!

six months later and still jobless

its been six months since i quit working to go chase my dream. now in retrospect, i m thinking about my (abrupt?) decision. would i do it again? most probably not, especially considering how dead the job hunt has been so far.

but still, feel that the time off and my trip had its benefits. like my cousin kept asking me, was my dream really something i wanted or did i want it so desperately, bcoz it was the next thing expected of me. honestly, i don't think i scored much in that introspection. but i think, i realized that i was being tad too sorry for myself.

the high point of the trip was the kind of people i met over a span of 2 months. the journey wasnt easy. it was filled with hopes and dreams and desires and ended in happiness for so many and disppointment for some of us. i don't think i have ever felt so powerless. but i had to look around and admire those around me who had it in them to dream again. i m yet to work up the courage to even look down that road again.

also, the time away gave me the time to get away from some of the things i needed to. it was like being in a 6 month long therapy. sort out some things and get past a few. not to mention, the quality time i spent with my grandmother. i m still amazed at how much she changed over a few years. she was a strong lady and still is in some respect. i still remember how much power she had over all of us and was someone nobody dared to be on the wrong side of. age has rewound her to be as helpless as a baby. but when we persevered and gave her time and lot of attention, we had glimpses of the old grandmother. she sang songs she had learned in school, told me stories about her family and in one lucid moment, she even told me not to care a hoot about what people expected from me. i m not sure how much she understood, but i m sure some corner of her mind, where things aren't clouded over yet, she is still looking after me. and thats enough for me.