Visa’s New Chip Outsmarts Crooks
April 21, 2006
Visa and Mastercard has been using a new credit card technology for the last five years in other parts of the world outside the US with excellent results. Those results being that no fraudulent activity has been non-existent on those cards.
The credit card has no magnet strip but it does have a chip onboard. When used you put in a four digit code just like debit cards instead of signing for your purchases. If a thief gets hold of your card and has it copied to a fake credit card, it won’t work.
The chip can also hold a lot more information than the regular strips on credit cards. This new card will be a great deterent in fraud because criminals cannot use the card unless they have your pin number.
More Credit Card Scams That A Blind Man Can See Through
April 20, 2006
A new credit scam via the telephone is circulating recently. Someone will call on the phone and ask for your credit card information; Saying that they need it before transporting a seriously injured relative by helicopter.
I don’t understand how some people fall for these scams. I do understand that many of these con artists go after the elderly and play on their sympathies.
Do you know your credit terms?
April 18, 2006
Most of us use credit cards constantly, yet “it seems that a credit card’s basic terms remain a mystery to many of us when put to the test,” says columnist Eileen Ambrose of the Balitmore Sun.
A recent survey by Braun Research found that more than 40 percent of the 1,000 cardholders polled had no idea of the interest rate on their card. One of five didn’t know the credit limit. And nearly 70 percent didn’t realize that their card company could raise their interest rate if they were late on a payment to a different creditor.
Wow. Those are pretty amazing statistics.
Here are a few things you should be aware of when it comes to credit cards:
- ~It’s much better to shop for a card than it is to sign up for the first offer that comes in the mail.
- ~Grace periods nowadays are just 15 or 20 days long, not a full month long (like they used to be).
- ~Terms can change. For instance, a “fixed-rate” is only fixed until the card company tells you it’s changing the rate.
Home Improvement Deals from Credit Cards
April 18, 2006
The tulips are blooming, the weather is warmer, the days are longer… spring is the perfect time for a little home improvement.
Credit card issuers, looking to profit as the peak season for home improvements begins, are sweetening terms for existing cardholders who make such purchases and are coming up with new incentives for home projects.
Many are also looking to differentiate themselves from those everyday cards that offer cash-back on gas and grocery purchases.
Here are some ‘home improvement’ cards to look out for:
- JPMorgan Chase and Reader’s Digest Association offer a card that gives holders 3 points for each dollar spent on home improvement items (and 1 point for every dollar spent on anything else).
- Citibank is offering certain credit card customers 5% cash back on purchases made at home improvement and furnishing stores.
- Lowe’s and General Electric Co. offer a Lowe’s card aimed at helping people finance big-ticket home projects (the credit lines can be as high as $35,000, compared to about $10,000 on regular Lowe’s cards).
Source: LA Times
Better Protection Debit Card Vs. Credit Card
April 18, 2006
There are many different types of plastic to use to make purchases. A debit card is issued by your bank and many find them more convenient to use than checks. If you have ever stood behind someone in line who pulls out a checkbook, I think you can literally hear the collective groan of the other customers.
Debit cards allow you to use money straight from your checking account and also use an ATM machine to withdraw or make payments. The drawback however comes with the protection you recieve when something happens such as someone stealing your debit card and cleaning out your accounts.
I am surprised that a huge majority of people do not realize that they are not awarded the same protection as a credit card. If you have ever had to argue with your bank over a double amount (company accidentally charges debit card twice) then you can imagine having to try and get back hundreds or even thousands of dollars that were stolen.
Most credit card companies will only charge you $50 and sometimes they don’t even charge you at all, if someone goes on a shopping spree with your stolen card. Don’t expect the same treatment with a bank over your debit card. You have to prove that it wasn’t you and you have to do that in a certain amount of time.
If you can’t, then you lose. I would suggest finding out where the purchases were made and then checking to see if they had any surveillance in the store. If not then you have an even longer way to go trying to prove your innocence.
Online Merchants Fight The Average Shopper
April 16, 2006
Years ago if a customer bought something online and then charged it back saying that they did not order it, many online merchants would let it go because it would be difficult and time consuming to fight. That is no longer the case these days. Online stores are losing million each year because of fraud and are attempting to put a stop to it.
One part of the problem is that it is no longer the thief or scammer sitting in front of a pc with a stolen credit card. It is now the average online shopper who realizes that all they have to do is cancel the order AFTER it’s been shipped or call their credit card company and say they didn’t make the purchase, they will get their money back and keep the product.
These e-stores aren’t putting up with it anymore. Many are hiring companies to help fight fraud, bringing in more technology and even working with credit card companies to cut down on this high tech theft.
A New Incentive To Get Their Credit Cards?
April 12, 2006
For the past few months the junk mail credit card applications I’ve been getting has included what at first feels like a credit card. Once you open the envelope you see that it is not a real card, but a fake looking credit card.
Is this supposed to make someone fill out their form and try to get their credit card? I can’t speak for other’s but having that piece of plastic isn’t going to make me want to put myself in more debt.
Large Credit Card Ring in China Shut Down
April 12, 2006
Police stopped a large Chinese counterfeiting ring yesterday in China. They found more than 41,000 Mastercards, Visa’s, other credit cards and arrested four individuals responsible.
They were able to make these fake cards by obtaining stolen credit card information from around the world and then selling them to customers in the southern area of China. Police say that they took computers, printers, and other materials all of which were the highest quality available.
Millions Fall Deeper Into Debt
April 10, 2006
Every few weeks or months you hear news stories that say how much further into debt millions are falling. A lot of these are with people accepting credit cards, maxing them out and then not being able to pay the full balance. Some even use other credit cards to pay off credit card balances. That in itself is just looping the problem over and over.
A big problem is that credit card companies do everything they can to lure college kids who might not have any idea what APR and any other credit card term is. They see free money and they happily sign away their life before going on a shopping spree. They don’t realize that the card they just signed could have them paying back half over even twice the balance of the card.
The credit card business along with other companies even follow your kids to Cancun and Florida on their vacations where they know that they will probably be intoxicated and easier to trick into any number of contracts. Plus some of the schools let credit card companies set up booths right on campus.
Teach your kids what they need to know about credit and credit cards before they are old enough to get one. Keep them from joining the millions who have bad credit and owe thousands.
The Other Online Credit Card Fraud
April 9, 2006
In many studies a large amount of shoppers say that they don’t shop online for fear that someone will steal their credit card information. Companies and websites have fought back with more protection and encryption. However consumers can protect themselves by having the latest security software for their computers.
The biggest online fraud right now isn’t very well known to many online shoppers and those who fear to shop online. This fraud involves the people who sitting at the other of the computer working for the company you are trying to make a purchase from.
The dishonest employees will steal credit card numbers, address info, name, dob and everything else they can get their hands on. The information can then be sold in which case someone now has your identity and can put you in debt very quickly. Another method is they change a little bit of information and this allows them to transfer money from your accounts to theirs.
