Thieves Are Outsmarting Savvy Consumers with New Scams Guaranteed to Fool You!

Like most things in life, the element of credit scams has evolved into a higher form. Those who are intent on stealing your identity and profiting from your good credit are taking the high-tech or the extremely convincing route to take advantage of you.

No longer do thieve just walk up and pick your pocket for a credit card – or blatantly send you an email trying to get you to divulge your personal financial information. Now, they’re farming for information from consumers who are very protective of their identity – and they’re getting them to hand it over!

It’s a new scam – and judging from the alarming number of cases, it could happen to you tomorrow. Thieves have discovered a way to brand themselves as legitimate so that you never think twice about telling them your account information and passwords.

As you probably know, identity theft is a growing problem. In fact, experts have declared it an epidemic. If you haven’t checked your credit report lately to see if someone has been using credit in your name, then you might be at risk and not even know it.

It takes a lot of time and hassle to clear up identity theft cases, so you want to prevent yourself from becoming a victim before it happens. See if this sounds familiar to you – and if it does, order your credit report today and cross your fingers that you haven’t been duped!

It starts off with a seemingly innocent phone call or email. You have a credit card or bank account in, let’s say, XYZ Company’s name. A representative supposedly from the company calls (or emails you) to tell you that a charge of $1,500 is being processed and that they just wanted to be sure, since it was such a large purchase, that your identity wasn’t being used improperly.

Well, of course, since you didn’t make the phony charge, you instantly panic and start pleading with the representative not to allow the charge to go through. They’ve got you by an emotional hook.

Your concentration is on the panic of an unauthorized charge. The person calling is just making a friendly call to alert you – they’re on your side – you think. So the bells and sirens don’t go off in your head.

The caller knows your name, address, phone number, and account number. It all seems legitimate. You don’t even flinch when they ask to confirm some information with you while they reject the charge because you’re so relieved that the representative is willing to fix this problem for you and “protect” you.

You rattle off your PIN (personal identification number), the security digits on the back of the credit card, and any other information they need to handle the investigation. If you’ve ordered anything online or via phone lately, then you know everyone now requires the three to seven digit code on the back – something most thieves don’t already have.

As you thank the representative repeatedly and hang up from the call, the person on the other end is either already charging up on your card or they’ve moved on to harvest this information from another unsuspecting consumer.

The call is so convincing because these people identify themselves with authority. They say they’re from the investigation division of XYZ Credit Card Company. They know your contact information and account number.

They may even give you their direct phone line and extension – which are just made up numbers because by the time they hang up with you, you won’t be able to call them back. Some have even stated a “badge identification number.”

Sometimes, they’ll even throw in a few specific details about the crime. They may tell you that a white man, aged 25-30 with brown hair and a beard was seen on security cameras using your credit card number to buy a 52” Plasma screen TV set at ABC Store in Dallas, Texas.

Your mind is spinning. You never realize you’re putting your credit at risk if you answer this person’s questions. They tell you that they’re going to open a fraud investigation on this individual – and in order to activate the investigation, they just need you to confirm some information.

Some of it truly will be confirmation. They’ll repeat your name and address – and maybe even your account number. But they’ll also need YOU to confirm some information – details they don’t have – like your PIN or your security code.

They’ll appease your suspicions by telling you to just call the toll-free number on the back of your card if you want an update on the case, and then they’ll tell you what your case number is.

The way they ask for your security code is by saying they need to “verify” that you’re in possession of the card at this time. You verify it by handing your info over to a thief! You think it’s to make sure your card hasn’t been lost or stolen, but at that exact moment, it has been!

So how do you react if this happens to you? First, never give out any information. Instead, call the credit card company directly and ask to speak to their fraud division. Call the number on the back of the card – not any number the caller gives you.

If you give out the information and plan on verifying the next day, it may be too late. As many people mired in trying to get identity theft charges off of their credit report will tell you, don’t hesitate to report your suspicions.

Credit Repair Come January

Credit Repair Come January:
How to Improve Your Credit After the Holiday

There’s nothing sadder than to face the credit card bills that come in the month of January.

They’re usually high and are something most of us would like to avoid. There’s no doubt that you need to pay them off, but how?

What will you do to keep the finance charges affordable? Paying the monthly minimum isn’t likely to help your credit situation at all. If you find yourself in debt largely because of the holiday season, then you need some help to dig yourself out now, rather than waiting all year to pay it off in small increments.

Resolve to Make Good Credit Decisions

The first important thing that you need to do is to resolve to yourself that you’ll no longer make the wrong decisions when it comes to credit cards. Using credit is only okay when you can pay it off completely within one to two months.

Beyond that, it can get overly costly and make each purchase you’ve made seem like one that broke the bank. Resolve to make better credit choices the next holiday season.
Also, realize that you don’t need to harm your credit any more by using credit cards more so during the next few months. Just because you’ve paid it down doesn’t mean that you have to use the available credit again.

Tips for Smart Credit Decisions

Now, how will you pay down all of the funds that you currently owe on those credit cards? To improve your credit and keep your credit score high, use these tips to help you make the right decisions.

• First off, determine which credit card has the highest interest rate on it and pay it down the most, the fastest. It’s the one costing you more.

• Cut down on any extra expenses that you can. Skip the coffee shop this week (one coffee a day for five days a week at $5 each is $100 a month that can go to credit card bills.)

• Make your payments on time. Having high credit card balances isn’t necessarily that bad, but what is bad is that when you begin missing payments or paying only minimums and you go over that credit limit. Make payments on time, even more than once per month if possible, to pay down your credit balance.

• Pay as much as you can per month on your balances. Even a few extra dollars helps lower the costs that you face on that bill.

• Take your credit cards, place them into a container of water and freeze them – or put them in a save deposit box at your bank. If you really need them, you can get to them. But, it’s a lot of work to make frivolous decisions with credit if you can’t instantly get to it. Stop making spontaneous decisions with credit and you’ll save considerably.

There are plenty of ways that you can find to repair your credit after a crazy holiday spending spree. If you don’t know what your credit score is, this is a great place to start.

Make it your goal for the New Year to ensure that you pay off your credit cards. This is a debt that just doesn’t have to be there. You can save yourself a lot of money and even have more to spend, if you don’t use credit cards as much as you have been in the past. A bit of time and patience, and a whole lot of hard work will help you save your money instead of having to worry about credit card payments.