The Long Shadow of Bad Credit in Job Search Over the last several decades, credit reporting bureaus have been selling their services to a much wider range of buyers than just banks. Nearly half of employers use credit checks when … Continue reading
Josip Gašpar was once a successful soccer star with a thriving career. After he retired as a player in Croatia, he took on the role of a coach for Prečko Zagreb. This month though, everything changed. Josip was fired from … Continue reading
ATM Fees on the Rise Using an ATM outside of your bank's network is becoming more expensive. The average fee a bank charged a non-customer for using their ATM in 2012 was $2.10, a 20 percent increase from the $1.75 … Continue reading
A new scam targeting fans of the popular puzzle game Sudoku is spreading through the internet. According to the AARP, the trade group for folks aged 50 and older, the scam works like this: an email arrives in your mail … Continue reading
Schnucks, a major supermarket chain based in St. Louis, announced that 2.4 million debit and credit cards of its customers may have been compromised over a four month period. According to company officials, the breach occurred from December 2012 to … Continue reading
A Louisiana woman is in jail for stealing her 84-year-old grandmother's identity and purchasing over $100,000 in computers, home improvements and several vehicles. It is the latest case that highlights a growing trend in society: financial abuse of the elderly. … Continue reading
Nearly everyone has shopped online at some point in time. While many people are concerned about their credit card information being stolen, the majority of people place orders online all the time and never think twice about the security of … Continue reading
18 States Considering Ban on Credit Card Surcharges Eighteen states are now considering legislation that would bar retailers from imposing surcharges when consumers use their credit cards. Ten states have already imposed bans on credit card surcharges, which limited the potential impact of … Continue reading
Good news for consumers victimized by identity theft: Uncle Sam is expanding a program designed to help law enforcement officers catch criminals who steal tax data nationwide to all 50 states. The Internal Revenue Service last week announced the program, … Continue reading
Computer security firm McAfee says it has discovered a new type of malware that aims to steal credit card data from computer systems used in retail stores. The malware, a Trojan horse variety, is being called "vSkimmer." Once installed on … Continue reading
More consumers are turning to their phones to take care of their banking needs according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve. The study, entitled Consumers and Mobile Financial Services and done in late November, showed that 28% of mobile … Continue reading
No one is immune to credit card fraud--not even the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. John Roberts was seen paying for coffee in cash at a local Starbucks because he had to cancel his credit cards. A member of … Continue reading
Credit card fraud has unfortunately become an every day occurrence, not just in this country but around the world. A 2012 global study by ACI Worldwide and Aite Group shows that one in four respondents have been a victim of … Continue reading
Rising allegations of cyber espionage in China has put many U.S. companies on high alert. Visa has decided that it is time to take action, reinventing the fraud detection system for the entire organization. Visa's Chief of Risk officer Ellen … Continue reading
Lawmakers Target Unfair Overdraft Charges Democrats have introduced a bill that would limit the cost of overdraft fees and prohibit practices that increase the likelihood customers will overdraw their accounts. The Overdraft Protection Act would prohibit financial institutions from charging more … Continue reading
Free Wi-Fi may seem like a perk when choosing a hotel, restaurant or coffee shop, but think twice before logging on. Utilizing free Internet connections may cost you more than you think. Scammers are now able to create fake Internet … Continue reading
Ever notice $10 to $50 missing from your available credit balance without a clue as to why? If so, you may be a victim of "cramming," a new type of credit card fraud. Cramming involves the use of unauthorized small … Continue reading
Having to sign for a credit card transaction isn't really effective if no one verifies the signature. It is easy to sloppily sign someone's name on a piece of paper and leave a store with a fraudulent purchase. However, developers … Continue reading
Credit reporting agencies TransUnion and Equifax have confirmed that hackers have gained unauthorized access to users' personal information, including some of the leading political and entertainment figures in America. The hackers obtained the Social Security numbers, credit scores and birthdates … Continue reading
Educational initiatives on the U.S. transition to secure chip-based credit card payment systems was one of the top priorities for 2013 to come out of the 6th annual Smart Card Alliance Payments Summit, held recently in Salt Lake City, Utah. … Continue reading
One out of four consumers from 17 countries worldwide have been victims of credit, debit or prepaid card fraud, according to a survey conducted by the payments system company ACI Worldwide. The 2013 Global Card Fraud Survey is based on interviews … Continue reading
FTC: Cramming Fraud Targets Consumers’ Credit Cards The FTC has added a new alert about a fraud called cramming where small charges of $10, $20, or $30 are secretly inserted onto your credit card bill. These small charges add up … Continue reading
One in twenty Americans were victims of identity fraud in 2012. According to the Identity Fraud Report released today by Javelin Strategy & Research, 12.6 million people in the United States or 5 percent of consumers were victims of ID … Continue reading
The Internal Revenue Service has launched a nationwide crackdown on identity thieves committing tax refund fraud. The agency last week announced a coast-to-coast effort in 32 states and Puerto Rico against 389 identity theft suspects that led to 734 enforcement … Continue reading
California Supreme Court Makes it Easier for Apple, Online Businesses to Collect Personal Data A divided California Supreme Court ruled that online merchants such as Apple and Ticketmaster can require consumers to furnish personal information to make credit card purchases. … Continue reading
The U.S. Justice Department announced charges against 18 people who bilked financial institutions out of at least $200 million in an international credit card fraud scheme. This would be one of the biggest credit card scams ever broken up by … Continue reading
Secrets of Mobile Success: Cost-Cutting Banks Seek Smartphone Customers Strapped for new revenue and pressed into waves of cost cuts, the country's largest banks are trying to keep the customers they have, woo the ones they don't and do it … Continue reading
One in three online users in China have been affected by some type of Internet crime, according to a new report released this week by the People's Public Security University of China. An average of 700,000 online users fall victim to … Continue reading
Tax time is here: January 30 marks the first date that Americans can file their 2012 income taxes. This year, the IRS is tackling a problem that is growing rapidly: tax-related identity theft. This type of ID theft occurs when thieves … Continue reading
With Cordray Nomination, Obama Renews Fight With GOP President Obama renominated Richard Cordray for head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday. Cordray is currently serving in the post thanks to a recess appointment. A year and a half ago, … Continue reading
Card skimming is now a sophisticated crime that can happen anywhere you swipe your credit or debit card. Thieves can insert a skimmer into the card reader sleeve and a hide a tiny camera nearby to record PIN numbers. There … Continue reading
Sentencing will take place this week for the man convicted of slithering on movie theater floors and stealing credit cards from women's purses. Anthony Johnson, 49, was convicted by a jury in a Connecticut district court on October 23 on … Continue reading
As consumers take steps in this new year to get their finances in order, they should also take the necessary precautions to protect themselves from identity theft. Over 11.6 million people were victims of identity theft in 2011, according to … Continue reading
Bank of America’s Plan to Drive Mobile Banking Beyond 12 Million Users As part of a drive to sign up more people for mobile banking, Bank of America is outfitting its teller stations with quick response (QR) codes that can … Continue reading
Battle Plan Shifts on Dodd-Frank President Barack Obama's victory means the 2010 Dodd-Frank law will stand. But the finance industry could still cut some parts of the law because changes now are politically less risky for the administration and Democrats in … Continue reading
If you think you are immune to identity theft, think again. A new study found there are more than 10,000 identity fraud rings throughout the country. An identity fraud ring is a group of people actively collaborating to commit identity … Continue reading
Rise in Household Debt Might Be a Sign of Strengthening Recovery American households are taking on more debt than they are paying down for the first time since the recession started. Some economists even see an end to the long, … Continue reading
Credit Card Settlement Could Stymie PayPal's Retail Plans A provision within the hotly-contested settlement between merchants and credit card networks could potentially slow PayPal's bid to become more widely accepted at grocery stores, restaurants and other retailers. Retailers that choose to … Continue reading