Parabola

Perhaps not a perfect one but it was nice to be out on the hoof taking unseasonal shots again. Yes, the sky really was/is that blue!

The main purpose of the walk, however, was to visit the local police station to denounce the cloning of my debit card while I was in London. The clone been used nine times over Christmas Day and Boxing Day in Chase Bank ATMs in Chicago, Illinois, drawing out nearly 4,000 Euros, and I became worried when my card was declined at dinner last night.

I had to take my passport along with me on top of my local ID to show it had no US entry stamps in it, as well as my boarding cards to and from London. But despite all my carefully put together paperwork, they declined to process it in the absence of a formally stamped statement from my bank instead of the on line banking print out I offered. Of course, the bank won't process the formal reclamation without the police denunciation...you can guess the cross town runs I'll be doing tomorrow! And I won't get the money back for 2 months. Really, the banks fraud detection system should have kicked in and blocked the card after one or two withdrawals in the States. Instead, it only reacted after nine withdrawals some within 3 minutes of each other!

I am 99.999% certain where the cloning took place....at a stand alone ATM inside the Jubilee Market, Covent Garden, London....so do avoid that machine and link this onto any London blippers you know. I've talked to the market administrators by phone to alert them and the local police.