Posts Tagged ‘identity theft’

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4
Oct/1040

Another day… another friend is the victim of a financial crime.

Another day, another friend with a personal financial crisis.  The latest, a friend who had unauthorized activity perpetrated through illegal access to his debit card.   I received this latest request for advice and assistance from a friend through FaceBook, of all places.    Turns out someone obtained his debit card information, and withdrew the funds from his checking account.  He was already working with the banks to get his funds returned, as well as obtain a new debit card.
My advice – loose the debit card. Don’t let them send you a new one.
Instead, have them issue you a traditional ATM card, and use the ATM card along with a traditional credit card going forward.  When (and I meant to say “when” and not “if”) someone gains access in the future, the most they can do is charge things on his credit card that he will never pay.  He will dispute the charges, get a new card, and otherwise have no financial loss.  With the ATM card, he can gain access to funds when needed, but without the PIN, the perpetrators have nothing.  Even with the PIN his exposure is the maximum an ATM will allow to be withdrawn, typically $500.
Minimize your risks to these issues which are beyond your control by eliminating your debit card.  It will better protect your bank balance as well as minimize any negative impact to your credit report.

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Filed under Beyond Fraud 40 Comments »

29
Jun/102

Credit Card Fraud: Tiny Grains of Sand Can Result In Large Piles

I learned of this scam against credit cards while volunteering during my shift in the kitchen at our church’s bingo one night.

A small charge, an amount under a dollar up to a few dollars, appears on your credit card statement.  Due to the insignificance of the amount, you don;t bother spending any time trying to figure out what it was for, and having it reversed off your account.  You try and recall where the charge could have come from, perhaps an adjustment to a legitimate purchase.

I never thought much about thieves stealing million of credit card accounts, and simply charging a few dollars to each stolen account.  But as it turns out, that’s exactly what they do, and a few dollars charged to millions of accounts, results in millions of dollars.

I went home that night and checked my credit card statements, and sure enough, I found these insignificant charges on my account.  The total of them do not warrant my doing anything about it, but they are there.  I’ll bet if you look, you’ll find them on yours as well.

Here’s the link to an article where the FTC just busted a very organized ring was stealing credit card accounts and doing this very scheme.

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Filed under Battle on Fraud 2 Comments »

21
Mar/1017

Debit Card Usage – Great Article

Skimming, the act of gaining unlawful access to card holder’s information, is becoming much more prevalent.  Identity thieves getting much more brazen regarding how and where they skim your credit and debit card information. Be vigilant.

Time and again I have posted regarding the use of a credit card over a debit card.  The main issue is that with your debit card, when fraudulent access is gained to your account, your funds are gone.

I found this article tonight that does a great job highlighting some of the issues occurring with debit and credit cards, and identifies ten (10) contexts where the use of your debit card would likely prove to be a real issue for you.

Here it the link to the article.  You may have to paste it into your browser.

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/109125/10-places-not-to-use-your-debit-card?mod=bb-checking_savings

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Filed under Battle on Fraud 17 Comments »

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