Yesterday, my husband and I were at the register at Burlington Coat Factory. As my husband stood there to pay for the goods, I looked around the store. It was packed with people — more people than I had seen in a month! Children were screaming, one cashier was dressed as Santa — and others as green elves. It was somewhat chaotic. I just stood there silently absorbing it in.
Behind us in line stood a young family of three with another male friend in tow. I noticed them because they were so young. They had a young daughter under the age of one dressed in a dirty, dingy pink coat with white snow flakes. The child’s coat had obviously seen its day. I would guess the young couple to be between the age of 17 to 20 years old. Along with them was another guy. He looked a lot like Prince with dark features and a thin, chiseled face. He looked like he could use a really good fattening dinner to give him some softness and warmth. I wanted to feed him!
A few old ladies in the line next to us cooed and awed over their baby. Oddly, the young couple didn’t say much. They seemed a little distracted. I thought nothing of it. I continued to peer around and watch people.
As I glanced back at the family behind us, I watched the young mother pick up her baby from their mostly empty cart, and shuffle herself around the two guys. All of them were busy looking around too. Then unconnected, I saw the young mother move over towards my husband. She looked directly down at his credit information which he was entering in on the keypad.
At first I thought nothing of it. Nothing registered as I was so absorbed with the people around me. I wasn’t thinking. Then as I blankly watched them, I saw the guy swoon over and start looking!!
My husband stood there patiently waiting to finish the transaction unaware of the vultures at his back.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up. I remembered my husband standing there in line with his credit card in the tip of fingers just moments before barely clasping the card’s edges. He was holding his credit card in a very dangerous position waiting to scan it — with the numbers clearly visible for all those in the back of the line to see.
Had they remembered his numbers? Were they looking again to verify them? Why did they keep looking? What the hell was going on??
I started to look to see if I could see a cell phone – wondering if they snapped a photo of the numbers. I didn’t catch a glimpse of one. However, when I started intently watching them — they started to look away from me. This concerned me.
I didn’t know what to do.
What do you do? I couldn’t fairly accuse them of anything! My mind was going a million miles an hour. This is a crime that is hard to call when it is in the making!
What if they are innocent? Were they? My gut told me they weren’t so innocent so I continued to watch them. I made my concern of them very clear — and yet they acted totally clueless!
As the cashier pulled the receipt out of machine for my husband to sign, I reached in from behind — grabbed it abruptly — and I said firmly, “You are going to sign this over here!” as I put it down to the far end of the register where the family couldn’t see it. The cashier looked surprised. People noticed my odd behavior. These was almost a hush in the air of surprise.
The family, however, all turned around away from us – and starred off into the distance. They tried to act oblivious to what I just did yet they had been very aware of our transaction moments before!!
((((bells are sounding in my head))))
Normal responses from them would have been odd looks, inquisitive behavior like the others around us — but they didn’t act normal. I am pretty sure they sensed I sensed what they were up to but it didn’t ruffle them at all. What could I do to them? They had my valuable information in their brains which is something I could never, ever prove until the damage is done. Perhaps each person had remembered a sequence of numbers. Very clever.
At this point, my husband’s intuition was telling him something was up. He finished the transaction and without a word we high-tailed it out of there. Once we got far enough away from them, I told my husband what I saw.
His face drained a little. He had never even thought about it and he realized how he had made himself vulnerable.
As we walked out the door, I flipped open my cell phone. I took the credit card out, called the number — and canceled the account!
What was even more chilling to me was the fact that the guy at the credit agency told me of the last few charges we made — including the one just made minutes before. If I had not called when I did, we may have come home a few hours later to a debt of ten thousand dollars or more!
Lordy, those eyes were up to some nasty lies! I have little doubt.
Whew. Close-call.
