I don’t read my mail anymore, man, it just makes me paranoid.

So WEEKS AGO I got a notice in the mail from Prudential saying that my IATSE Annuity Fund had been inactive for 6 months and that I needed to either tell them to keep it open, or if I said nothing, they would cut me a check for the balance: $13.62.

I have no idea why I would have an account through IATSE (which is the union of “professional stagehands, motion picture technicans, and allied crafts” – but not stage managers, who are part of the Actors Equity union) but I checked with Marin anyway, and they said no of course.  So then I carried this letter around with me for like 2 months, and never got around to calling to find out what it was from.

On Thursday night my parents stopped by our apartment on their way to San Jose, with a grocery bag full of pears, another grocery bag of vegetables, and a stack of mail.  One of the pieces of mail was a check from Prudential for $13.62, which I was like, Score!  Every little bit helps, right?  But this morning, I determined to figure out why I was getting this money (especially since technically I’ll have to claim it in my taxes next year), so I called the phone number listed on the letter.

I went around and around with the automated voice messaging system, trying not to put in my social security number and just get a person on the phone.  But it was stubborn so I finally just did it, said “I don’t have one” when asked for a PIN, and gave my date of birth.  They said they couldn’t find an account for me and to call back during the hours when they had someone working there.

Jeez, this makes me nervous.  A Google search for “Prudential scam” returns nothing of consequence except the standard page on Prudential’s website that says generically, “Sometimes people use our name in scams.  Call your bank” or whatever.  Part of me is like, This is the most thorough scam ever, if you don’t give in to your curiosity and give them your social, they still send you a check.  I don’t know.  I’ll have to call them first thing on Monday to allay my fears, but in the meantime I just hope it’s all right.  It probably is.  I should do a credit check anyway, I guess.

One of the other pieces of mail was a new credit card, like, with my name on it and everything, that I absolutely did NOT sign up for…but the other part of me is like, take it and activate it and never use it.  So I have to figure that out today.