I could see that call coming..

As a means of distracting myself from the things that I really need to get done today, I ran yet another Tarot report from Tarot.com.

It starts as it always does, by reading the horoscope that I receive daily via email. The generic horoscope is there in full on the page, but the horoscope for Gemini contains only the first two lines. So I click "read full horoscope" and am taken through to the website where a whole host of offers are on display to tempt me.

And every now and again, one catches my eye, and today it was the Wheel of Fate reading costing a mere $6.95. Being in denial of the strength of the pound (or current lack of), I perform a conversion in my head which results in a cost of £3.50, justify that I spent more than that on chocolate last week, and click the 'Go' button.

The process for a Tarot reading is as follows:

1. Hover over the hands to 'shuffle' the cards
2. Click on the spread to select a card.
3. Repeat steps one and two until all cards are selected
4. Click on 'Run Report' to take you to the payment screen
5. Opt whether to pay with 'Karma Coins' or 'Credit Card' (I never have had enough Karma Coins, so I select to pay by card).
6. Click the 'Purchase Report' button.
7. Locate Mobile Phone and wait for Credit Card Security Team to call.
8. Answer security questions (address, date of birth) written down on the script asked by the nice man or lady with the Indian accent.
9. Confirm that yes, the card is still in my possession
10. Confirm that yes, I did just spend £4.95 (£4.95?! not £3.50?!) on a reading from Tarot.com
11. Listen to the justification as to why this transaction caused alarm.
12. End the phone call.
13. Return to computer and read report.

The first time they rang, many months ago, I refused to believe that they were not somebody trying to steal my credit card details, as they wouldn't tell me what the call was about before I gave them my information, and wouldn't confirm snippets of my personal details to prove that they already had them.
They had to send me a letter in the post before I would trust that they were real (well! you have to be so careful nowadays!!)

But since then, I have started to expect their call, and so on this occasion the conversation started:
CC Lady: Hello, may I please speak with Miss Kabbalah Rookie, please?
Me: Yes, speaking.
CC Lady: Hello, Miss Rookie, I am calling from your credit card company and..
Me (cutting her off, midflow): Hi there, yes, I know why you are calling. You want to ask me about a small dollar transaction to Tarot.com that I have just made on my credit card and confirm that the card is still in my possession! It's okay, you call me every time I buy a report. And I do have the card and I did make the purchase."

This comment was met with a confused pause followed by:
"Miss Kabbalah, I first need to ask you a few security questions to confirm that you are the owner of the card..."
And she walked me through the script, one question at a time.

The poor woman - she obviously didn't see that one coming.