Hello everyone:

I was talking with a gal recently who told me what could have been a very sad story. (Though it turned out well, I suppose you could say that it was still sad in many ways.)

It seemed that, a few years before, her identity had been stolen when some crooks got a hold of her bank account number. They had rented an apartment in her name and then set things up so that their rent was automatically withdrawn from her account.

Fortunately for her, she balanced her accounts on a monthly basis and discovered the theft pretty quickly. To make this long story a bit shorter, the crooks, having been stymied in their attempts to get her paying their rent, then turned to paying off their credit cards with her account’s money. Again, she was able to stop them. Sadly, it took four months for her to get things worked out with the bank. Happily, the crooks (whose names she was never allowed to know because, after all, crooks have their privacy rights) are now serving time for having gotten money from numerous folks’ accounts.

But that’s only part of the story. The saddest part of all was her then-husband’s attitude. You see, this man to whom she had pledged her life, kept harping that she should sign all of her assets over to him since, as he said, “Your identity has been compromised.” He repeated his request that she sign over all of her assets to him at least once a week during this four month period. He also mentioned it on a regular basis every few months thereafter. She refused. Thank God.

Here’s the thing: The lady in question knew that, every time her hubby used big words, he was lying to her. Sure enough, they were divorced a few years later. Imagine what her life would have been like, had she signed every penny she had over to him. Be careful, dear friends, very, very careful about what you sign. The biggest crook of all in this story is not the one serving time.

Best,

Dr. Sheri