I can't believe how stupid I am. I've literally been ashamed of myself since yesterday & I feel like the biggest idiot in the world (barring drumph, of course).
I went down to see that cycle on Saturday. Overall I was pretty positive, but I'd had this weird nagging doubt - something in the way that we interacted online just seemed off. Anyway, i got down there after a 1.5hr drive. Introductions, started looking the bike over. Really clean, looked impressive. He started it up & it fired right away, but was running kind of shitty. I thought maybe it had to wqrm up, so let it idle for a few, then said I wanted to test ride it. He acted a bit weird about it, but I chalked it up to him being nervous to have someone ride it. I showed him my cycle endorsement on my license & he asked to keep it while I was on the ride, then he asked for the keys to my truck too. I again put it off to him being nervous & just a bit odd, but I should have paid attention to that little nagging feeling I had.
I didn't, and left on the bike with him having my keys & license. The bike rode ok, but something felt/sounded weird in the lower part of the engine. I got back & told him about it & how, while I liked the bike, something was making me nervous about the sounds I'd heard, and I explained the issues I'd had with my previous bike breaking down. He spent a good 20 minutes trying to talk me into buying the bike; about how I'd driven so far, & he really needed the money (said he's buying a house next week). Offered to drop the price from $2100 to $2000 even.
That made something click in my head too, but I wasn't sure why. It just seemed odd to only drop it a hundred dollars if you were desperate to sell. I finally told him I'd ask my mechanic friend about the noise & get back to him if he thought it was no big deal. He still kept trying to talk me into it & I was getting a bit annoyed.Finally I told him firmly that I wasn't buying it that day for sure, but I'd get back to him. I got in my truck & happened to look at my glove box when I got in.
Now, I'd locked that glove box before I left my house, because I'd put my cash in there. This had slipped my mind when he asked for the keys. 1st thing I did was count the money - I miscounted the 1st time & accused him of taking $100. He got all defensive, saying, I'm an honest guy, I wouldn't take your money", etc. but I was so pissed off at the fact that he let himself into my locked truck (and then unlocked my glove box too!) without my permission that I chewed him out but good. Told him it was disrespectful, and an invasion of my privacy & personal space and that I was pissed off. He told me that he was checking my registration because I didn't look anything like my license photo, and kept saying that was all he did. He kept trying to apologize, but I'd had enough & I left. Anyway, why the fuck did he even need to know my name? All he needed from me was my cash, I was the one assuming all the risk!
I pulled over a couple times after I left his driveway & double-checked that I counted right again, and there was no money missing, but that's when it hit me... remember he dropped his price from $2100 to $2000, which I thought was odd? That's exactly how much I had in that envelope; I'd kept $100 in my wallet in case I really wanted it & couldn't get him to drop his price. That proved to me he went into the envelope & counted how much I'd brought. I was livid (and I seldom use that word), and I just got angrier the longer I drove. Then I remembered something he'd said to me in our messages before I went down there...
He said that if I bought the bike, he'd need a copy of the signed-off title to give to his loan officer (for the house he's supposedly buying). I asked him if he had a place to copy it & he said he had a copier at his place. That's when things started adding up & I realized what had likely happened...
I'm positive he stole my identity. He had my drivers license, an old registration that was in the glove box, an old document that had my signature on it (from when I bought the truck), and plenty of time to take it all in the house, copy it & return it to the truck, thinking I would never notice.
I'm fucking pissed off at myself for being so utterly naive & stupid. I'm the guy everyone calls paranoid because of how careful I am with my privacy & personal info. I the guy who suspects everything when it comes to keeping my identity secure, and I fucking handed him my license & keys like some kind of complete moron! I had an hour & a half drive home during which to beat myself up, and believe me, I did. Still am, in fact. This is probably the stupidest, most embarrassing thing I've done in my life, at least that I can remember (and I remember embarrassing shit from when I was single-digits old).
1st thing I did when I got home was file a police report. I tried to call the city police in the town in which it happened, but they told me I had to file with my own department (still doesn't make any sense, but whatever). An officer came by, took my statement & assigned a report number, but since at this point no crime has been committed, it's for documentation only. When he left, I decided to go grab a beer, because I was hating myself so much. I made it a couple miles when I realized that that guy could be applying for credit cards online at that very moment. I turned around, came home & immediately put a credit freeze at all three reporting companies. My bank isn't available until tomorrow, and neither is the DMV. I need to ask the DMV if I can apply for a new drivers license number. I currently think all you can do is get a replacement, and if that's the case, I need to find a way to flag my license number so that if anyone uses it (for example, if they give it when being pulled over by the cops or something) it'll be known that they need to look into it further.
I'm just beside myself - I can't believe how much of an idiot I am for allowing something like this to happen; I should (and do!) know better. I hope I can sleep tonight - the only reason I did last night is because I was drunk enough to pass out.
10:02 p.m. - 2018-08-19
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