Decoys And Deception

One of the blogs I follow religiously is Surviving Argentina written by a guy named FerFal.  I have learned much from this man and his blog over the years and yesterday it payed off. I was a victim of a home invasion in 2002.  I was held captive in my own apartment from Friday night to Monday morning while crack head criminals were out using my debit card.  They wanted my password of course so they could access my cash so they beat me into unconsciousness, I would wake up and give them a fake password, they would leave (leaving one guard) try out the password, and come back and beat me again.  This went on for almost 3 days and I survived to write about it.  They finally gave up thinking I didn't really know my password and were only able to use my card for purchases.  On Monday morning I went to the police and took my report to the bank and my money was restored to me.  It took me two months for the bruises on my face to heal up and I am sure much of my arthritis was caused by that long weekend.  I learned from that experience and I always keep a decoy wallet with fake bank cards, a little cash on hand in case such a situation would ever arise again.  Because of my low income I generally have to live in neighborhoods were this stuff goes on pretty much 24/7.
So yesterday was the last of the month and I was out of money which is typical of any month, and I thought about my decoy wallet that had $4 in it.  Imagine my surprise when it was not in the amo box with my other survival items (Ferfals list).  The amo box was placed in my truck the night my sister tried to have me arrested.  I moved and did not bother to check the box as it had been in her gun safe and was always under lock and key before and since then.  I discovered this yesterday afternoon and went strait to the bank and had them run a check on the fake bank cards that had been in the decoy wallet.  One of the cards was an active card which surprised me as the bank had sent me two replacement cards last summer.  I had the teller deactivate that card and requested a new password anticipating that my meth head sister was going to attempt to access my bank account this morning.  I arrived at the bank 3 minutes before my money was posted and took out the money just in case somehow in
Coshocton she could convince a local banker to give her my money.  My sister has a power of attorney form that I filled out when I left Lori two summers ago, she probably knows all the secret questions as we share the same parents and upbringing, and she is hopelessly addicted to meth which means she lacks critical thinking skills.  Even though I have changed addresses and changed my power of attorney I suspect that somehow because of her reputation in Coshocton she could possibly get custody of me and my bank account as she has accessed my Facebook account posing as me and threatening suicide.  I realize that I have to watch my back, my truck, and anything else that she would try to steal.  I gave Raquel a copy of Surviving Argentina but meth heads don't have time to read.  Had she taken the time to read the book or his blog she would not have fallen for the decoy wallet trick!  I paid my rent this morning and my landlord asked me about the police presence on April 13th.  I told her about my sister, her addiction and the attempt to steal my money.  Thankfully my new landlord is a thoughtful caring person and will not hold the police coming to the house against me.  I am surrounded by friends and people who know me and will back me up when events like this happen.  I am grateful to be free of the meth heads and will continue to try to help the police bring them all to justice and recovery.  It gladdens my heart to realize that that bank card didn't work for my sister and her friends this morning.  I wonder if they got her on camera:)