DollsArtCats

Way back in 2016, I put up a (surprisingly popular) blog post about how I had my AmEx card hacked,and some of the background to the Great Chocolate heist of 2015:   https://dollsartcats.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-six-million-dollar-box-of-chocolates.html So years have passed, we had a pandemic and an attempted coup and then, on Friday, I got an envelope in the mail from the Muransky v.Godiva Chocolatier Claims Administration, and inside-- there was a check for $32.52 ! My portion of the settlement! I can't eat chocolate now (or regular coffee; thanks Covid) but I will take my $32.52 to Ted's Montana Grill, order a salad, and thank Dr.Muransky and American Express for the meal :D (If you have poser, the petit four in the illustration is a free download at Renderosity.com: https://www.renderosity.com/freestuff/items/78798/poser-petit-four

If you are an American Express card holder, you may already be aware of David Muransky vs. Godiva Chocolatier. I wasn't, until a Chicago law firm, via AmEx, sent me a polite request for a deposition relating to a transaction I had in March 2015 at a local Godiva store. After some cogitating and photocopying I remembered that was when K had visited, and I had bought her a box of raspberry stars with my AmEx. Coincidentally the next day, someone named "Jose Hernandez" used my card number to buy a ticket from Dallas to Santiago, Chile; and as I pointed out to AmEx a month later, when I received my statement, that this was unlikely-- as I have no acquaintance with Mr. Hernandez nor a working passport of my own. My money was refunded, I received a new card and I sort of forgot about it until the request for the deposition. Meanwhile, AmEx looked around for someone who had lost their card number to fraud "because allegedly Godiva had printed up store receipts with the...