Domo Arigato

On the upside I now know how expensive it is to travel on the Express way in Tokyo Japan for a day. Approximately $90.83, including the foreign currency conversion fee (which is between .02 and .28 cents per transaction).

How do I know this? I don't think I wrote about this in a previous blog, just random blurbs on facebook. But a few months ago my debit card numbers were electronically stolen.  Wells Fargo noticed strange activity right away and called me to verify, closed that debit card, and issued a new one.  Pretty painless right?  Sure I had to go a week or so without a debit card, they erased the charges fairly quickly, they just sat pending so it never effected my account in the first place.  Kinda scary, but no real damage done.

Fast forward a few months to last night and I'm checking my online banking and see a charge from Tokyo JP on June 1st.  WTF?  Then another one, and another, 23 in all.  Followed by 23 "Foreign Curr Conv Fees".  They are all small increments of money - $1.05 being the smallest and $11.55 the largest amount.  

At first I think "Not again!?!?"  Then I see that they all have the last four digits of my OLD debit card.  The one that was canceled two months ago.  How does that happen?!?! Sure someone is out there with these stolen numbers trying to use it.  But why did Wells Fargo let the transactions through when it was obviously a cancelled debit card?  I called WF and started the claims process.  I'm sure in a few days the money will be credited.  But the operator didn't really seem to have a good explanation as to why they went through in the first place.

Today a coworker was looking at the transactions and noticed they all said "JPEXPWAY" - Japan Expressway.  It looks like each small transaction was a different toll both on the Expressway in Tokyo Japan.  

Well I sure hope someone had fun traveling around Tokyo Japan on June 1st on my dime. 908.3 of them to be exact.