Category Archives: Finance news - Page 5

What Happens With Credit Card Account Debt After Death

Posted by on May 24, 2011 No comments

I received the following question via email:

…questions about family members, their debt and what happens to that debt if they die.  In the US, if parents die with a lot of debt (credit cards etc…) what happens to it?  Are we as the kids going to be responsible for that?  Any insight on this? 

First, you should know that I am not a legal professional, so you should consult a lawyer to get a clear response for your exact situation.  As always, I cannot be held liable for the advice I give.

Gotta love the legal stuff, eh?

In the United States, debt is not transferable.  The only way a person can be in debt is if they have agreed to it by signing their name. 

The short answer to your question is whatever your parents own will be used to pay off the debt they owe.  Furthermore, your parents’ poor credit standing does not have any impact on your credit score.

In a case where parents do not own much, but owe a lot, you can expect that you won’t get an inheritance.  However, at least you can know that you won’t have the burden of paying their financial obligations once they die.

Children are not responsible for the spending habits of their parents.

Dave Ramsey often says, “What you own stands good for what you owe.”

Credit Card Debt And Death Example:

Old Man Debt and Old Lady Borrower own a house that appraises for $150,000. This is the only asset they have and they have no savings.  In addition, this couple also had $60,000 in charge card account debt, $40,000 in car loans, and $125,000 mortgage. 

The total of what they own = $150,000

The total they owe = $225,000

In this case, $150,00 will be paid towards the $225,000. 

One of two things will happen with the house.  First, the house will be sold ($150,000) and the proceeds will be given towards the $225,000 they owe to creditors.  The other option is that you could buy the house for $150,000 and the cash from the sale of the home would go towards paying off $225,000.

It is important to note that typically official homeownership cannot be transfered until the mortgage has been paid off.

So, here’s an example,

Mediocre Mom has a house that appraises for $150,000.  She also owes $40,000 on the house.  In the will, you are supposed to get the house.  Once again, one of two things will need to happen.  Either you pay off the remaining $40,000, (you can get a mortgage in your own name) or you sell the house and keep the $110,000.

But, you’re not completely free and clear

Debt Collectors Make Their Own Rules

Be forewarned.  Just because someone cannot legally collect a parents’ debt does not mean they won’t try.

Think about it.  You’re vulnerable.  You’re grieving.  And you’re an honorable person.  Someone is going to do their best to get you on the phone and convince you that you should pay mom and dad’s bills.  They’ll talk to you about morality, ethics, and obligation.  They’ll lie and make up stories.  Basically, anything they need to do to help collect a debt you do not legally owe.

This article is brought to you by www.JEMCreditCards.com – Not Just Credit Cards, We Create Financial Security! compare credit cards including Discover credit cards, Chase credit cards and a lot more!

Are Charge Card Rewards Plastic Gold Or Junk

Posted by on May 24, 2011 No comments

Air Miles Credit Card Rewards = Junk

I spent a good part of my first 2-3 years of marriage trying to accumulate airline rewards points.  I specifically focused on getting NWA World Perks points.  We ‘cycled’ everything through the plastic.  By using charge cards and other strategies, I was able to accumulate a pretty decent amount of points with Northwest – without ever flying.

The biggest problem with airline miles and points is that they are only valuable in theory. Almost every time I’ve tried to redeem airline points, the flights I want are not available with the points I have.  While I accumulated enough points to fly round trip to Europe (four times), I have not yet used any of those miles (six years later).

The problem with airline miles credit card accounts is twofold.

1. Availability.  Unless you want to book 364 days and 6 hours in advance, you will probably find that the seats are all sold out.
2. Award seats are inflexible.  I could use them to fly if I left before 4 a.m. on a Wednesday and returned between 11:45p and 11:55p on a Sunday.

On my travel blog, I shared some recent frustrations trying to book travel with my points.

Honesty, at this point today, I think each and every one of those points was a useless waste of time and effort – my air miles are plastic junk. Perhaps when (IF!!!) I actually use them, my opinion will change.

One exception is the Southwest credit card which gives you enough bonus points to get a free flight.  And guess what?  With Southwest you can usually actually redeem your points.  For an ongoing basis there are better cards than the Southwest credit card account, but for the sign-up bonus you can’t hardly beat it.

Hotel Credit Card Rewards = Plastic Gold

Within the last two years, I’ve wised up and focused most of my rewards points on hotels.  For me, I’ve found they have the most lucrative rate of return.

Hotel points are much, a lot, a lot more valuable than air mile points and money back rewards.

Why are hotel points more valuable than air points or cash back?

Remember all those air points that I earned that were theoretically valuable?  Well, I have accumulated and already used a bunch of hotel points for some serious dollar savings.

Here are just a few examples:

Chase Priority Clubs Credit Card Rewards

One Card + One Purchase = $470.00 worth of rewards

To show you that you can actually get something of value from credit rewards, I  want to share how we got $470 worth of rewards from just one account.

My wife applied for the Chase Priority Clubs card.

Bonus: 15,000 priority clubs points + $20.00 credit.

Action: Made one purchase for $11.00

Action: Stayed two nights at the Holiday Inn Avon in Christchurch, NZ and one night at the Crown Plaza in Queenstown, NZ.  Each night was a Point Breaker offering, so each night cost us 5,000 points for a total of 15,000 points (same as our bonus).  Savings = $450.00 USD.

Action: After the vacation, she called and canceled the card.

Action: Chase sent us a check for $9.00

I also got the same card in my name, and this June I’ll be using 5,000 points to say at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Port Moresby, PNG.  The hotel costs over $250 USD per night.  At this value, each point is worth 5 cents or a 5% money back.

AMEX Starwood Credit Card

This has by far been the best credit card account I’ve owned.

In fact, my family is planning a trip to Sydney, Australia in June.  We’ll be staying five nights at the Four Points Darling Harbor. Because of our family size, the two rooms for five nights cost us 56,000 points.  The cost of those rooms would be $1,700 USD, so that represents about 3 cents per dollar spent or a 3% cash back.

In the last two years, we stayed 13 free nights in hotels.  Once we get through this summer travel, our total will be up to 19 nights free hotels in the last two years.  Most of those points come through hotel charge card rewards.

If you want to learn more about how to get free Starwood hotel nights using the Starwood credit card, just read this full detailed post.

Cash Back Credit Cards = Neither Junk Nor Gold

I call the money back cards the old faithful cards.  You guarantee use – it is cash after all.  They provide a reasonable return on your spending dollars and ultimate flexibility.

We just got the Schwab charge card account that gives us 2% cash back on every purchase (it’s a good thing too. FMF just posted 4/26/10 saying that the Schwab card is no longe available to new customers).  A nice rate of return, but extra nice considering the 0% foreign exchange charge card account fee.  Since most companies charge between 2.7-3% to use the card overseas, our Schwab card will save us 5% overseas compared to other options.

Depending on your occupation you may find better card offerings.  Here’s a list of the best military credit cards.

Now this is the time for my charge card account warning. If you use a credit card account, you must have spending guidelines.  You do spend more money with a charge card account than cash, but a credit card has nice added benefits that might make it worth the extra money.  If you are in credit card account debt no amount of rewards will ever make it worth it.

This article is brought to you by www.JEMCreditCards.com – Not Just Credit Cards, We Create Financial Security! compare credit cards including Discover cards, Chase cards and a lot more!

How To Get The Most Out Of Credit Card Account And Debt Card Rewards

Posted by on May 24, 2011 No comments

#1 Cash: Reward Potential – Unlimited if it Helps You Stay within Budget

You might be thinking that you don’t get any money back with money.  Yes, that is true. But for certain people, the best reward will be the reward of controlling what goes out without any expectation of anything coming back to your pocket.

There is, in my opinion, no better way to budget than using cash.

With money, you can use one of two simple accounting systems.  The first is that you can use the envelope system where you allocate budgeted amounts to envelopes full of cash.  When that envelope is empty, there is nothing more to spend.

The second option is to count ATM visits or keep a notebook that records your running total of money withdraws.  This way you can answer the question, “how a lot do you spend” with confidence.

If you are a person who has trouble keeping your budget or managing your money, your best money back rewards system is going to be the cash in your pocket system.

However, buying EVERYHING with cash can be very annoying (which is why it is such a good budgeting system).

For nearly five years, almost all of my shopping has been with cash.  I’ve ended up at the store without any cash in my pocket and had to drive home to get more out of the safe – ugggh.  I’ve been forced to wait in a bank line for 15 minutes to get more cash out of the bank because the cash well had run dry.  I’ve had friends report that their purses were stolen when carrying around a lot of cash.  Forget about trying to buy gas with money – that is no fun.

Thus, even though I personally believe you may spend less with money (or not?) I’m willing to accept some extra payment for the convenience of plastic because credit card accounts do have advantages.

#2 Debit Card Rewards: Reward Potential – Up to 2% Cash Back

The PerkStreet Financial debit card provides a very good option to those who want to be getting extra rewards, but who don’t want to use a credit card account.

The card offers a solid 2% money back.

A couple of other debit cards that offer rewards includes the Capital One checking account debit card (earn points towards travel) and occasionally the ING Direct debit card.  Yesterday, Jason mentioned getting $1 back per transaction. Are there others?

However, I have a couple of things that hold me back (not to convert anyone) from using a debit card:

1. Debit cards do not have the exact same functions and features as charge card accounts (see credit card account vs debit card).  Especially when traveling overseas, I’d a lot rather there be an issue on my credit card account than debit card.  On several occasions, I have reversed a falsified charge with my charge card account in just a few minutes.  Good luck trying to do that with a debit card.
2. Extended Warrantee. Credit cards do offer an extended warrantee that is not likely to be matched by debit cards.
3. AMEX Promotions. American Express goes the extra mile to give added perks to its card users.  In the last year, they gave a $25 statement credit if you bought something worth $25 from a small business.  They gave you a $7.05 statement credit if you purchased something from iTunes.  They offered an extra 10% off Discover America vacation packages.  I bought one and saved $31.
4. I still think some charge card account rewards are more valuable.
5. About once a year I make purchases that are too large to cover with what is in my bank account (purchases to be reimbursed).  Credit cards simplify the process.

Again, let me say that my goal here is not to convert cash users to debit card users.  Nor is it my goal to convert debit card users to credit card users.  The reality is that your spending personality will determine which is your best rewards system.

#3 Credit Card Rewards: Reward Potential – 5% or More

Cash Back Credit Card Rewards

Depending on your spending habits, it is possible to get more than 2% money back with a charge card account.  Two examples are the Chase Freedom card which offers 5% cash back up to $1,500 in purchases in rotating categories.  There are high cash back categories of Amex Blue Cash which starts after exceeding $6500 in yearly spending.  Discover also had rewards cards that have rotating 5% cash back categories.

Airline Points

Most consumers estimate hotel points at a 1% money back.  That is true if you typically travel domestically.  However, if you fly first or business class overseas, the value of your points skyrockets.  Additionally, depending on your routing, you can often find rewards in the 3% range.

In his post, Jason mentioned that he’d need to spend $50K to earn an award ticket to South America.  That completely depends on the airline and the card you use to earn those points.

For example, until May 6th one could sign up for a British Airways visa and get 100,000 British Airways miles those miles could be used to fly almost anywhere in the world.  That’s after paying a $95 annual fee and spending $2,500.  However, on that $2,500 that would be like $1,000 worth of rewards.  Thus, the return on your spending ($2,500) would be more like 40%.

Or, as another example, with American Airlines you need 35,000 miles to South America.  If one were to use the Starwood American Express and transfer points to American Airlines miles, they would need to spend $30,000.  That’s a far cry from $50,000.  It would also be a 3.33% back, assuming tickets cost $1,000.

However, you need to be knowledgeable about the world of airline miles and points to be sure you’re earning points with the right program.  That’s why I wrote an eBook (available free of charge) called How to Earn Frequent Flyer Miles From the Comfort of Your Living Room.  In the book, I teach consumers what they need to know about collecting miles.  Also, I do offer free credit card selection consultations to be sure that consumers are using the most valuable card.  As an industry insider, I can usually match the best card with the best destination with the best program.  The biggest frustration that people have is redeeming miles.  Since I know about airline rules, restrictions, terms and conditions, and have access to flight availability tools, I also help people book flights using air miles (contact: htcheap at gmail dot com).

I’ll officially get off my hobby horse now!

Hotel Points

Hotel points avoid many of the things that people find frustrating about airline points.  They are easy to redeem, and you never have any associated fees to deal with.  In the last three years, we’ve enjoyed 15 nights worth of free hotels.  We have redeemed hotel points for in excess of a 5% return.  Since I’ve already taken up too much of your time defending airline miles, I won’t overextend my welcome.  If you’re interested, you can check out my post on earning free nights with Starwood points.

Conclusion:

The right money back system for you is going to depend a lot on YOU.

For those who have difficulty controlling their spending, the money sending system is best.
For those who have reservations about credit cards or fear overspending, then debit cards are the best system.
For those who pay off bills every month and want additional perks, then credit cards may be the best system.  Airline and hotel credit card accounts are great for those who travel a few times a year.

This article is brought to you by www.JEMCreditCards.com – Not Just Credit Cards, We Create Financial Security! compare credit cards including Discover cards, Chase cards and a lot more!

Advantages Of Charge Cards Over Cash

Posted by on May 24, 2011 No comments

Several weeks ago I asked the question Does spending money really save cash when compared to credit card accounts? My conclusion was that consumers spend less with cash.  The more I have reflected on that post, I feel it is necessary to follow up with a more complete look at advantages of buying with charge cards compared to cash.  Just because something is cheaper (as I believe using cash is) does not necessarily mean it is a better choice.  I do a lot of things that I know are not the “cheapest” thing – like drink Dr. Pepper.  There are cheaper beverage choices, but occasionally I like a little fizz in my diet.  There are occasions when I pay for preferences and convenience.  Photo by paalia

Do credit card advantages outweigh the extra expenses?

Credit Card Advantages:

1. You don’t have to worry about change. One of the things that drives me crazy about paying with cash is all the change in my pocket.  When I go to buy something I find myself digging around for change because I don’t want more, but then I feel like an old lady who is holding up everyone in the store.  I often just give a larger bill and fill my pockets with even more annoying change.

2. Book keeping is easier. With money if you lose your receipt, the record of your purchase has gone MIA (unless you have an incredible memory – which I don’t).  My wife and I were trying to sort out some of our bills earlier today and I caught myself thinking that if we had just bought it with a credit card account we would instantaneously know how a lot we spent.

3. Purchasing items for business. Where I work we use a reimbursement policy.  I buy it now and they pay me later.  Having a charge card for those types of purchases avoids forwarding any cash.  It gives time for a check to be cut before the payment is due.

4. Warranties. I’ll be honest here. I have never taken advantage of a credit card warranty.  However, if you are going to buy an item, you may as well get some type of coverage since there is no extra expense.

5. It can save you cash. Some cards provide discounts when used at specified organizations.  Carrying a card allows you to take advantage of those offers.  You can also save a bunch of cash when you rent a car with a credit card.  When you don’t need to buy the rental insurance coverage you can save a bunch of cash.

6. Feel sophisticated. Sometimes it’s just about the feeling.  We like to feel good.  I have never fully understood pedicures, but women say it just makes them ‘feel good’.  We are often willing to pay for a feeling.  When I don’t use a credit card account I feel like I am missing out on something – bonus points or promotions.  That may or may not be true, but sometimes I just feel like I’m missing something by paying money only.

7. Convenience. I love standing at the pump and swiping my card.  The gas station is one place where taking a journey indoors is hard for me.

8. Rewards. There is no denying that charge cards offer some pretty nice rewards – like this Starwood American Express.  Sure, they might only be a small fraction of what you spend, but you feel like you’ve done something smart when you are getting rewards.

9. Cash can be lost. What happens when you lose your wallet three times in a few months?  Some consumers have a habit of losing their wallet.  Those poor folks ought to have the safety of plastic, not a wad of money on their person.

10. Tipping is simplified. With money it is hard to leave a % tip.  Often I find myself with several big bills and then I need to decide how a lot change to request.  However, with the charge card account you can leave an odd tip total and no one will think anything of it.

This article is brought to you by www.JEMCreditCards.com – Not Just Credit Cards, We Create Financial Security! compare credit cards including Discover cards, Chase credit cards and much more!

Resources To Get Out Of Credit Card Debt

Posted by on May 24, 2011 No comments

Want to guess why Wal-mart is so popular?  One stop shopping.  People like going to one place to get everything.  That’s how valuable our time is.

When I started to put together an article on charge card account debt problems that so many people face, I decided to put all of my best ideas and thoughts down on paper and then collect other articles related to credit card debt so that you could use this article as a sort of one stop shop as you deal with credit card account debt problems.

Though I’ve already put together a A Guide For Getting Out Of Credit Card Debt, I wanted a resource that included some information from all around the internet.

How Do You Know If You Have A Credit Card Debt Problem?

Of course, every financial commentator will answer this question differently, but here is my simplistic equation.

If you cannot pay off your credit card account at the end of the month then you have a credit card account debt problem.  Perhaps I would be willing to go as far as saying if you can’t make the payment once, but catch back up the next month you might be ‘OK’.  However, credit is such a dangerous thing that the best course of action is to closely monitor your debt usage.  The moment it gets out of hand, avoidance is the best policy.

15 Things I Would Do If I Had A Credit Card Debt Problem

1. Find a guru, mentor, or coach.  The truth is that sometimes we tell ourselves lies that make us poor.  A coach can help identify those false thoughts.  The mentor does not need to be someone you know.  It can even be someone who coaches you indirectly – like Dave Ramsey.
2. Tell everyone I know, “I’m trying to pay off credit card debt”.  Just saying it out loud makes the whole process easier.  Why not just tell people rather than trying to make an excuse every time they invite me out to lunch?
3. Sell anything that is absolutely essential.  By the way, get feedback from a third party on what is absolutely essential.  A Lexus wouldn’t be on the list.
4. Surround myself with people who would encourage me.  Establish a frugal community.  If you can’t do #2, you’ll never be able to do this step.  However, once you tell consumers you are getting out of debt, others will want to join you.  Work together towards a common goal.
5. Make a budget
6. Take on extra part time jobs.
7. Read the total Money Makeover.  This is the first book I recommend for people in any kind of debt.
8. Send my charge cards to jail (or one of the other options listed below), or cancel them.
9. Cut my spending.  No more eating out.  No more vacations.  When I set goals, I work at them like crazy.
10. Develop a game plan and get organized.  I’d know how long each card would take, which one to pay off first, and how a lot to pay towards each car.  If you don’t already have a personal finance software, you should consider one.
11. Re-evaluate my habits.
12. Talk to the kids about the family goals.  The kids need to be on board, too.
13. Work like crazy to keep be sure my wife and I were on the same page attacking the debt together.  Here are 101 Ways To Improve Your Marriage Money Relationship.
14. Stop contributing towards retirement.
15. Read inspiring debt free stories.

5 creative ways to control credit card spending

1.  Hide and seek. Ask a friend to come into your house and hide all your credit cards.  Decide not to use a charge card account until you find all of the cards.  You’ll get so sick and tired of looking for the cards (the inconvenience of it all) that you’ll stop and ask the question – isn’t there a better way?  Lots of times we use plastic by default.  We get into the habit and mindlessly slide our cards across the moneyier’s table.  But, if you were stranded on a desert island, would you find a way to live without credit?
2.  Freeze da life out of them. Take an old margarine container (or similar) full of water and put your credit cards inside.  Shove the container into the freezer.  This helps curb impulse shopping.  If you know it’s going to take hours before using the card (no pouring hot water on the ice!), that gives you time to consider the legitimacy of the purchase.
3. Set charge card spending guidelines. Make it fun and make it formal.  We, the consumers who reside in this house, do hereby declare that as of this day forward we will no longer use charge cards on a whim …  Our family has charge card guidelines.  Here are some of our core tenants: (a) Credit card purchases only for items over $100; (b) the purchase must be decided before we go to the store; (c) both husband and wife must completely agree with the choice.
4.  Write a eulogy for your credit card account. There was a day and a time that we were codependent on each other.  I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t shop unless it was by my side.  Slowly we started to drift apart.  I started to realize how it was using me and punishing me.  So I broke up with my charge card account.  I haven’t heard from it since that day until now. Imagining life without charge cards makes living without credit cards a lot simpler.
5.  Put your charge card accounts in jail. Keep them in a safe deposit box.  Going to the bank is such a pain in the neck.  However, if that plastic tool is locked up where you can only access it during business hours, then at least you’ll get tired of taking trips to the bank, and eventually you’ll seek out a better way of buying things.

This article is brought to you by www.JEMCreditCards.com – Not Just Credit Cards, We Create Financial Security! compare credit cards including Discover cards, Chase credit cards and a lot more!

Protecting Yourself From Cyber Credit Card Crimes

Posted by on May 24, 2011 No comments

Internet fraud and identity theft are becoming much more highly sophisticated crimes of which we just cannot overlook any longer. Precautions must now be taken to prevent this wrongdoing from happening to us – and there are numerous methods you can take to protect yourself. Identity theft is described as the illegal use of your name, social insurance number, date of birth, charge card or any other personal identifying information, used without your approval or knowledge, to commit financial fraud in an attempt at ‘cloning’ you for the purpose of obtaining charge cards, loans, checks and other measures that allow the thief to go on a spending spree in your name.

This crime affected approximately 11.1 million people in the U.S., in 2009, and is increasing every year, in numbers much too high discount. It is also becoming extremely difficult to remedy this situation should you be targeted and unfortunately, it packs quite a punch to your wallet, among many other facets of your life. If the crime is not detected early enough, it could take months or even years to clean up the damage done. Estimations vary – but the latest costs involved in identity theft, or identity fraud, states these infractions have cost consumers, in the US alone, around $54 billion in 2009.

Credit card fraud is at the top of the list. Once the thieves get your personal information, they open charge cards with high limits, and before detected, can rack up quite the bill. A high number of these ‘thefts’ were initiated online, and it is not only credit card related – cell phones, auto purchases, and loans are up there on the list.

I’m not sure about you, but frustration and the feeling of personal violation are the emotions I feel related to this crime. I can’t imagine what it would feel like to have someone running around, using your name and spending cash, which unfortunately in the short term, is your responsibility, until proven otherwise.

A recent movie titled, The Michelle Brown Story (aired on Lifetime Channel) and based on a true story, depicted a young woman, Michelle Brown, whose identity, and worse, were stolen from her. Michelle was in the process of purchasing her first home and the loan documents required to close escrow were confiscated. So, along with her identity, credit card accounts, drivers license and social security number, the thief also had access to her checking and saving accounts – using thousands of dollars of cash to purchase items such as a new car and expensive clothing, etc. The criminal also became obsessed with her, wanting to become her, which caused Michelle much more difficulty than the average fraud. She (Michelle) had a very difficult time proving her own identity again, and in clearing her name. She also lost the purchase of her new home due to credit indiscretions, loss of funds from her account for the down payment, and many other problems related to this crime. The movie was based on a true story and if it doesn’t prompt you to take extra precautions to avoid this sort of thing from happening to you, I don’t know what will!

The problems these criminals create for victims are seriously harmful to credit ratings, your livelihood and the quality of your everyday life – not to mention massive expense in research and reporting, etc., and also time consuming to prove and remedy. To keep identity theft of your information from happening or to attempt to catch it early, follow these basic rules:

The first and foremost is keeping a close eye on your bank account regularly, at least daily. Consider using Mint to keep track of all your accounts in one place. Banks may also have fraud warnings you can attach to your account by request. My bank recently put a stop on my debit card for unusual activity, which was inconvenient because I was trying to make a purchase which was declined – and required a phone call to clear up, however they noticed a few charges that were irregular to my usual spending habits – and stopped all activity until I called and verified that the charges were legitimate. Banks are very good about watching unusual activity, and notifying you at once.

Also, charge card companies offer this option as well, called identity theft protection, or fraud detector – when you sign up for credit card accounts, or even for the ones you already have, be sure you opt for the ‘credit card fraud’ alert offered. And review your charge card account statements, very regularly.

Your credit report is also a great indicator, although a bit slower than the other methods, but it will disclose all information that isn’t charge card account or debit card related. There are many quick and immediate reporting agencies out there, namely Free Credit Report that can keep you updated on your credit report.

Internet scams and viruses are designed for accessing your personal information. Trojans get access to your information via emails, and if you open the infected email, the virus actually waits for you to access your bank account information and relays that information to the hacker that instigated this virus.

Worms are another method of Internet fraud, doing exactly what the name implies, worming itself onto your computer and turning off security software so that the hacker can access your information.

Several others exist that you should be aware – scams looking like friends in an effort to get you to turn over information to them – viruses that infect your files and can corrupt your hard drive which come from internet downloads and email. Phishing is also a difficult detection as this is the act of sending an email that resembles a bank (or other online merchant that you may use) email, asking you to log in by clicking a link attached to the email…. Once you click, the hacker has your personal info.

Remember – NEVER give your any of your private information to anyone in an email or online. My policy is just to make the call – do it over the phone if applying for credit or paying for something. It is just too risky and you can never be sure who is watching or how safe that site’s security is.
Unfortunately, this crime is only going to get worse before it gets better so it takes being highly aware, and never, ever clicking on links in your inbox or on the Internet that you have the slightest doubt is legitimate. Even if they come from friends! Many of my friends have been hacked into lately, and the hacker uses the friends email address to try to get you to click on the link that is attached. Don’t do it. It is much, much easier to avoid having your identity stolen, than to fix it after it happens.

By all means, if you haven’t already – purchase a high quality security suite such as Norton or McAfee and updated it regularly. Hackers can find their way around them so quickly that you must install the updates as soon as they are available. There are also some great free options like Microsoft Security Essentials, Avast! and AVG.

This article is brought to you by www.JEMCreditCards.com – Not Just Credit Cards, We Create Financial Security! compare credit cards including Chase cards, Discover cards and a lot more!

Page 5 of 3,551« First...34567...102030...Last »