the past few weeks have been bittersweet, honestly, more bitter than sweet... a nightmare that lasted, as if, forever... it started on...
31Aug - i hurt my foot, was struggling to walk for a whole week after.
[lesson 0: what can i say?! just be careful ]
1Sept - came back to Notts with santa from London and missed the train just by a minute or 2!! if it wasnt for the long queue at the gate, would've got on the train. The new train tix cost us 54pounds each, and please dont convert to RM... in Notts bus station, we were accused of forgery when using our Frio bus tix to board the indigo bus. Just because they've changed the Frio tix (i dont know since when) and ours were the old tix, the manager accused us for making fake Frios, i was so insulted i argued my heart out, havent been so angry in a very long time. of course, eventually he apologised and replaced our Frio tix with the new version. we were in the bus station for more than half an hour for this, crazy.
[lesson 1: be on time, or much much earlier... we gave ourselves to reach there 20mins early, but the stupid london southern train that we wanted to board was cancelled, it's all luck i suppose ]
[lesson 2: if you're wrongly accused, just be confident & brave enough to fight back... in words... even if they speak better English or are bigger in size or look intimidating to you, if you're right, you're right! i can only say this works well in the uk, not sure about msia :b ]
2Sept - my com broke down due to some Trojan virus i think. was devastated cuz i havent back up my stuff for the last 10 months or so. had to wait the next day to send it for repairs at the uni IT centre (and thanks Ngee for telling me that). Got my com fixed within a day or so, and the IT guy was sooooooooooooooooo nice he intro me some really helpful antispyware/malware tools plus he didnt want to charge me anything for fixing my com ^^ the usual fee is just 5 pounds anyway. was super grateful, and just when i thought my bad luck has run out...
[lesson 3: please please back up your com every so often. i mean i dont remember clicking on any pop-ups or opened any unknown emails of accessing any weird web-link, really no idea what or how i managed to pick up that virus... which later lead me through hell, literally...]
4Sept - went out to Notts city centre for shopping!! my debit card was rejected twice from 2 different retailers, was confused but thought it might be some error with the card. late that night, i decided to check online my bank accounts to see if there's anything wrong and to my horror... all 5 of my accounts were EMPTY!! there were a few transactions out of my accounts to an unknown receiver, 14+k pounds were gone just like that. imagine what went through my head then, i was so shocked i felt lifeless, i cant even cry & i had to constantly remind myself to breathe. santa was calm, he helped me look through the details as i lay on the bed, unable to do anything myself. that's when i realized my com broke down for this reason, and the day i got the Trojan virus, i have accessed my NatWest banking online and that was when the fraud happened. it was a Saturday night, what can i do?! banks are closed on Sundays, but i called the helpline to report my case anyway, they couldnt help so they directed me to the bank on Monday, i had to live through Sunday feeling helpless.
[LESSON 4: when i said i have access my banking online on the day my com broke down, that wasnt all of it. strangely at that time, i was asked for my full password & pin number which i know, the bank would NEVER ask for it, but at that time i thought, maybe the bank changed their log-in format and asked for full password now (believe me, knowing the fact doesnt always prevent you from falling trap to these scams). after logging in with my full password & pin, i was prompted to use my card-reader to verify myself, didnt thought anything was wrong at the moment because the whole lay out of the web page looked exactly like NatWest's original page! so there i was, giving out my password unknowingly and using my card reader which i assumed the fraudsters made used to add them as 1 of my payee, so that was how i was robbed of 14+k pounds. *my uk friends, just another million-th reminder NEVER give your full bank password/pin online and be super careful when using your card reader if you're a NatWest customer* ]
6Sept - dragged myself to the bank to report my case, the lady was as helpful as she can be, i mean she couldnt do much or guarantee anything as it was up to the fraud team to investigate & decide if i'm going to get my money back. knowing that wasnt helpful, 14+k was a huge sum, dont even try converting it to RM, it was too heart breaking. i was told the bank needs at least 5 working days before they can contact me for the updates... omg... it was the longest days of my life. my 4th year tuition fees and what i've earned over the summer... i tried so very hard not to think about it. and if it wasnt for santa being there for me all the time, i would have gone into depression, at least my luck didnt totally ran out.
11Sept - paid another visit to the bank cuz i couldnt wait any longer for an answer, the lady made the call to the fraud team and was told they have made arrangements to contact the other bank which the fraudsters used. Again, it wasnt the guarantee that i was looking for but i felt better.
12Sept - received a letter from the bank saying they have finished the investigation and i would be refunded the full amount within the next 10 days. it was the best news when the days were so dark. but i can only see myself happy again after getting my money back for sure.
17Sept - my nightmare was over when i've confirmed with the bank regarding my bank balances. Note: my online & telephone banking are totally shut down due to this fraud event.
Looking back now... it seems like a lifelong lesson... i've lost some weight, but i've grew wiser, i hope. there's still the feeling of insecurity every time i want to access my bank accounts online, and there's still the 'post-war scar' lingering around. i'm writing this down in hope that no one else have to experience what i went through, it is avoidable... well, the fraud thingy at least. And to apologise if i have been any bit unfriendly during that period, i have tried very hard not to show any emotions regarding this, and i have not tell anyone (including my parents, because they'll probably worry too much) about what happened. And i dont plan to share this personally in words to so many people cuz it's just a bad memory that i want to shake off.
[life lesson: there will be a silver lining... somewhere... somehow... ]
p.s. choucream, remember when i told u about my bad-lucks?! u said it was ghost festival, and that was just before i knew about the fraud which happened right about the same time as the festival... aihz...
cher
