Monthly Archives: March 2017

Credit Card Fraud

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I’ve spent most of the morning on the phone with American Express concerning an email I received saying something about activating a new card for Linda Smith.  It wasn’t my card number on the email and I thought that it was a fishing expedition. But, I decided to call American Express anyway, just to make sure nothing weird was going on.

As it turned out, they did issue a card connected to my account for Linda Smith.  Also for Irene somebody too.  So, the guy from American Express says he has to read me a statement for him to cancel those cards.  The statement is sort of long and one part was that I’m personally responsible for all the charges on the cancelled cards.

I interrupted him and told him I didn’t agree to that.  He said I had to agree if he was to cancel the cards.  I had a short conversation about how I was doing him/American Express a favor because I wasn’t planning to be responsible for illegal charges.  He told me that there were no charges, so I should just agree so he could cancel card.

Then he cancelled them and asked me if there was anything else he could do, saying he was all done.  I said yes, I’d like to know how this happened.  How a new name was added to my American Express account, actually two names.  I asked to talk to the fraud department.

So then I was on hold for a long time and finally a super nice guy answered.  I had to give all my information again and start all over.  He told me to look over my statement and make sure I made all the charges.  I had the statement up on my computer and everything was mine.

He said he was cancelling my account and sending me a new card.  So I was going to have to get a new online account and re-enter all the auto pays, bank accounts, etc.

Man, what a hassle.

I’ve had a couple credit cards stolen during my lifetime.  Once, I was racing in Europe and had a few credit cards.  When I got back to the US, I was looking for a card and couldn’t find it.  It wasn’t in my wallet, so I checked my backpack.  Not there, so I looked through my jersey pockets.  (Sometimes I carry a credit card in my jersey pocket, especially riding in Europe.)  Not there.

Finally I realized I lost it.  So I called the credit card company and told them I had lost the card.  The representative told me that I had close to $5000 worth of charges on it, all for Belgium and Holland.

And they were weird charges.  Beauty parlor, shoes, groceries, not big charges, just lots of small ones.  So I had to go over each and every charge and say that I didn’t make it.  It took a while.

I guess someone at one of the hotels must have went through my wallet, while I was riding, and took out one credit card, assuming I wouldn’t miss it, which I didn’t.  Pretty good crime really.

Anyway, I’m getting a new card tomorrow.  The American Express fraud guy told me I should probably change all the passwords to all my accounts, including email.  That is nuts.  I can sort of understanding how a card can be ordeed under my account number, but have a hard time figuring out how that would have anything to do with my email account.

But, I guess he probably knows better than me, so I should just do it.  The guy was super knowledgeable.   Could take a while.  Didn’t expect this morning to go this way.

 

 

Dangerous Disc Brakes???

This entry was posted in Comments about Cycling on by .

Disc brakes are back in the headlines.  The UCI decided to allow their use again this year. Marcel Kittel and Tom Boonen were two of the most prominent riders using them so far.  Then Kittle got caught up in a crash with Owain Doull, Team Sky, and Doull claimed he was sliced, at least his shoe was sliced, by Kittel’s disc rotor.  I think he was wrong.

SInce then, the CPA has called for them to be disallowed.  And lots of websites have done experimental videos showing if a disc rotor can cut things.  Velonews did a couple videos that showed, if someone is powering the wheel, then it could possible cut through a cycling shoe.

The only problem with that experiment is that when someone has their cycling shoe up against someone’s brake rotor, no one is pedaling that bike.  That bike is most likely going to hit the ground very soon, riderless.  And the time they held the pig’s skin and shoes against the rotor was so much longer than a person could ever be touching a brake disc in a crash scenario.

I very much doubt that brake disc rotors are dangerous.  Just because they are rotating doesn’t make them into meat cutting blades.  They are pretty dull and I’ve never come close to being cut by one.  And I’ve fallen a fair amount of times on bikes with disc brakes.  And I’ve been run over by a fair amount of times by guys riding disc brakes.

Think how many crashes, mass pile ups have been at the start of MTB races since discs have been used.  I’ve never heard of anyone getting sliced by a rotor.  Add cross races too, now that disc brakes are becoming commonplace.  I’ve never seen someone in MTB or cross cut by a disc rotor.

I’m not big on the disc brake switch.  It is a huge change and makes exchanging equipment, especially on the road, very difficult.  When the manufacturers get their shit together and make the calipers more adjustable, maybe make the pads retract further, then the wheels might be interchanged much quicker.   Until then, maybe they are only good for individual racers where riders have their own equipment, in pits, available.

If you gave me a choice between touching a rotating brake rotor or having a guy run into me with a chainring, I’d take the rotor everytime.  I’ve been hit by chainless chainrings and those things are very dangerous.  An exposed chainring is so much more dangerous than a brake disc connected to a hub.   I very much doubt the CPA is lobbying to get rid of those.

***Okay, I just went out to my garage and spun a MTB rear wheel up to speed.  I could stop it very easily with my thumb.  I do realize that hand skin is tougher than other skin on a human’s body.  I’d think if a leg or arm came in contact with a rotor, from the top, where it would cut you, then the same leg or arm would make contact with the spokes of the wheel too, so it would not only be the rotor stopping the wheel.