Fraud - Money e Art.

Yesterday afternoon Sunday after spending a chaotic day helping relatives. I decided to go and and eat an ice cream from my favourite Italian ice cream shop to escape ' la famiglia'. The ice cream was fantastic as usual. Creamy, tick , luscious chocolate and banana flavour to die for. A huge portion topped with fluffy whipped cream, it definitely put a smile on my face. I can't stand some ice cream shops where they charge you huge amounts for a really small scoop of ice cream anyway after I finished my ice cream I decide to go and take some money from the cash machine completed with a mini statement. I tried three cash machine none had money. I thought, typical on a Sunday evening. Everybody is been boozing, partying on Friday and Saturday and emptied the machines. Finally I got to one and there was this huge man, with the biggest ass I have ever seen leaning on the cash machine taking money with different cards. There I was standing looking left and right thinking: Why do always get someone in front of me who is taking money out for the whole family and is so slow I mean real slow. I could have gone for a coffee' and come back and he would have been still there. Anyway now I wished he stayed longer because after when I went and print out my mini statement I realised that most of my money in my bank account was gone!!! I just kept looking at this little piece of paper thinking where is my money? What happened? I did not spend this money. I flipped the mini statement while running toward the first telephone box I saw, as my mobile was down, to call my bank and hope that I would find someone on a Sunday. And I did find someone with a nice calm voice, who had heard it all before. I said to her: I think someone is using my account without my knowledge. She replied the usual stuff: can I have your account number and blah blah blah. Suddenly she said: have you been abroad and I said: No. I started to panic, my heart was beating faster, my head was turning and when she confirmed that someone was been spending my money abroad.

I just could not believe it.

How can someone take the only money I had as I don't have any savings I mean I am a poor young starving artist.

The money I had in my account was the money I was supposed to spend on the dentist not on something frivolous. I mean every time I go out I can't just go out I have to think: can I afford this can I really afford a cinema ticket this week? What can I say no trip to the Dentist soon...

The operator from my bank kept reassuring me that I was going to get my money back and she kept saying do you have cash at the moment?

So my advice to young artist friends is: when you take money from cash machines do it inside the bank, cover your pin number and never pay for stuff with your card in stores or shops or restaurants basically anywhere because I paid for something in a store and they some how where able to copy with out my knowledge my card details. But as the operator on the phone said: it happens all the time.