Tom Hanks Publicly Thanks Man For Returning Lost Credit Card
Most people have felt that panicked feeling when they realize their bank card or credit card is missing, wondering whether it is misplaced or stolen, and what the next step should be. But Actor Tom Hanks didn’t need to worry long after losing his credit card on the reported mean streets of a New York City, because a kind stranger named Tony returned it immediately after he found it.
Tom took to Twitter to thank the man for the return of his card, although it is not certain how the card was returned to Tom, in person or via liaison. He referred to the man simply as “Tony” in his tweet.
“A guy named Tony found my credit card on the street in NYC and returned it! Tony! You make this city even better! Thanx. Hanx.”
The tweet was re-tweeted and favorited on Twitter thousands of times within hours of its posting, with many kind words for the man who returned the card. While it’s not clear on how long that card had been missing or if it was cancelled, it certainly seemed that it had not been used during its disappearance.
Credit card losses and thefts are extremely common. In fact, on March 7, in the same city where Hanks’ card was lost and returned, a man named Thomas E. Simmons III, 40, was charged with larceny over $250, improper use of a credit card over $250, and identity fraud. Although Simmons is not believed to be related to Hanks’ case, it illustrates how problematic the theft of credit cards can be, and can take years to recover from when it comes to identity theft and credit reports.
In the Simmons case, police received a report on January 31 that someone had fraudulently used a credit card at the Tewksbury Wal-Mart. The woman said she still possessed all of her credit cards, so it was a case of a stolen number, an increasingly prevalent crime around the world. In the case of that crime, Tewksbury police had to give chase to the man.
“Danvers Police arrested Simmons after a brief foot chase. Danvers Police charged Simmons with 3 counts of larceny over $250, credit card fraud over $250, possessing a forged registry document and possessing equipment to make fraudulent credit cards. Simmons was able to post bail in Danvers. When he did, Tewksbury Police arrested him on the Tewksbury charges and brought him to Tewksbury Headquarters where he was denied bail. Tewksbury detectives believe that Simmons was obtaining stolen credit card numbers and making credit cards to commit these crimes.”
As credit card and identity theft is on the rise, someone as presumably wealthy as Tom Hanks was indeed fortunate that a kind stranger returned his card rather than attempting to exploit the fact it had been lost.
