When I ran out of money near the end of last month, I feared my own stupidity was responsible: too many charges without paying attention to what was in my main account.

After deposits from the first of this month vanished in less than a week—to the tune of several thousand dollars—and major payments bounced higher than a basketball ever thought possible, I knew something was amiss.

Come to find out, as of today, someone has been increasingly sucking funds from my account since November.  First in small increments, so small that they passed unnoticed; then in larger and faster increments, but only large and fast enough to make me think myself a fool for spending too much; but finally in massive deductions that stripped thousands of dollars in less than seven days.

That’s where I am right now.

A violation so profound as to be the end of life.  As though the thieves walked into my home and robbed me of everything I owned while I sat there watching.

I transferred $1,000 yesterday; it’s all gone now.

I transferred another $300 today; all but $3.54 is gone now.

Thankfully, Wells Fargo is being as understanding and helpful as any bank can be.  We’ve documented all of the illegitimate charges; they hope they can credit them back to me soon.  We’ve frozen the account; tomorrow we can transfer all deposits to a new account while issuing new cards, new checks, new everything.

And I’ve wept.  I’m crippled beyond words, out so much money that I can hardly comprehend the losses.

Ultimately, and unfortunately, there are no clear answers.  I hope to get the money back; I have no promises to that end.  Freezing all transactions now helps in the immediate future, yet it doesn’t resolve the outstanding transactions that maintain life, home, necessities.

That my card was compromised means one thing: A vendor with access to it no longer has control over their infrastructure.

Therefore, and without any sense of responsibility toward those involved, I will compile and post a list of all companies who had access to my account immediately before this compromise took place.  That will include names and addresses for both local and online vendors.

Any company not involved will enjoy my full support and proclamation of their innocence.  Assuming as much can be proven to me, that is.

Meanwhile…