Well, it happened again. I got hacked and should have never given my credit card info to a site that was offering a whopping sale for a Cable TV extension.

DO NOT fall for HBO Max come-on that offers the service for $2 a year.

 I should have known it was phony but I had thought about adding it to my repertoire because I already have HBO, Starz, and Cinemax. One more wouldn’t hurt I thought and so I filled in my info only to find a half hour later two unknown accounts had got “pending” approval for $99.33 on one and $59.93 on the other.

The culprit’s name is “Mystery NUTCL 8442036866.” I tried to Google it but had no luck. In the meantime, I contacted my credit card bank, TruMark Financial Credit Union, and my card was immediately “inactivated” to prevent any further misuse of the information I provided.

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I was told my bank would still have to honor the “pending” authorization even though I told the representative I never authorized it. You also have to contact the fraud division and file a claim to start an investigation.

I’ve done this before when I was hacked a couple of years ago and was successful in getting some of the money back. But I also remember the hassle I went through worrying about additional scams and worse yet, having to contact seven or eight businesses that I had made arrangements to automatically pay each month. You gotta notify them when you get a new card and set up the new transaction information.

One of the payments is for a spiritual group that helps provide weekly meditation and speakers to help elevate your spirit from the woes of the day. (I could really use the elevation right now from the Center for Contemporary Mysticism!)

Well, it could have been worse. And I am grateful that I can go to the bank today and get a new card issued for my rehabilitation process.

Then I hope to go and sin no more!