Insurance and Credit

I am fed up with the advertisements promising FREE CREDIT REPORTS. Aren’t you? To my mind there is no such thing as a Free Credit Report. In fact, in my opinion, it’s a money making scam on behalf of unscrupulous Credit Report companies.

Once we have been enticed onto their sites through their pop-ups which cost them an absolute fortune and are detested by us all, we then have to go through all the form filling, and finally, we have to submit our bank details to them.

If you have heard of the term recurring billing, then no doubt you will know Googles description, which means, …Transactions for which a cardholder grants permission to the merchant to periodically charge his account number for recurring goods or services… I question whether or not these companies are using this as an income strategy whilst claiming this is as a means of identity verification.

Because many of us forget to call off the subscription, we may not become conscious of the fact that our credit cards have been charged, mostly once a month, but sometimes even a couple of times per month. I will cover this in a future article. So it can take quite a while before we realise we have been paying for this unintentionally. It is a good way for these Free Credit Report companies to make some serious cash out of our forgetfulness. I think its shocking!

During this period of financial insecurity, we are a bit more vulnerable, and if more competition were to be is introduced, and legislation tightened, we may get the opportunity of benefitting from a fairer deal.

So now that bit is over and done with, if someone is stating that their service is FREE, then regrettably, and inevitably, there will be some sort of catch or trap concerned. These companies are here as a safeguard for us and our financial matters and to defend us from Credit Card Fraud, Internet Fraud, Identity Theft and Cheque Fraud, yet some may see their ethics as a SCAM in itself!

Not only do we get charged for this Free Service, we have to give them our credit card details! Hell, I want to see what they are offering me before I give them permission to debit my credit card, dont you? An example of standard Terms and Conditions these Companies issue contain examples such as.. …after your 10-day FREE trial period it’s just 25.95 per month. Remember, you can call us within the first 10 days to cancel, and you will not be charged the 25.95. To ensure continuous service, at the end of your trial period your membership will be automatically charged each month at the then-current membership fee…

We also have to consider that at times these companies do not offer a satisfactory level of service, and their blunders can blight our whole financial credibility. This can have a destructive effect on you in the future and I will highlight these in an upcoming article which will be issued soon. In the meantime, never forget to terminate your subscription, or ACCEPT THE CHARGES!

Identity theft is massively prevalent and rampant these days. You can be a victim either online and offline. Awareness about identity theft is the first step in protecting yourself but it doesn’t end there.

You must now begin to develop a comprehensive and effective identity theft protection scheme. Doing so is very easy. The following guidelines will tell you how to strengthen your defense against it:

The mails that we either send or receive must be the first thing to pay attention in identity theft. We receive our protection reminder information on a regular basis. Bank information and other related materials are often used by identity thieves on misappropriating their victims. Use a keen eye in analyzing the veracity of the mails we receive before responding to them.

You should also pay attention to the mails, bills, and bank statements you dispose. Our garbage and trash are usually used by these identity thieves to obtain basic information about us. It’s never safe to assume that they cannot simply steal anything by just knowing our names and addresses. The information technology has opened up to our infinite possibilities and our trash messaging is never an exception.

Accessing the worldwide web must be done with utmost vigilance. Your identity protection plan must then concentrate on avoiding instances where informed phishers might attempt to steal your personal on financial information. Also, your access codes and over passwords must be formulated by mixing alphanumeric and special characters for it to be powerful in protecting you accounts. You must also make an effort to change these regularly to ensure your identity is safe.

Lastly doing online purchases and other related transactions must be done only with merchants or service providers that you can trust. These are those who already have a solid reputation coming from a trustworthy record.

With the information urge comes a lot of responsibilities. We all know that and anyone can take advantage of it either by doing good and even bad schemes. Protect your information to avoid identity theft to ensure that what is your will be only yours from now up to the future and beyond.

Criminals use internet to steal money through scamming gullible individuals to divulge their passwords, social security information, bank account data and other personal facts. If you are a victim of identification theft, reporting about it to the police officials and the bank helps you to obtain proof of the larceny.

The two main methods of identity theft are online and through document theft. Online websites or phony emails are the first method of obtaining your personal information. Do not fall for any online inquiries. Dumpster diving is the new criminal sport. They rip through your garbage looking for old statements and any proof of address. A shredder is your best friend.

The best defense against identity theft is to know the criminal methods. If you stay vigilant, then you will recognize the first signs of a possible scam. If it seems fishy it probably is fishy. You are the best defense.

A good starting point is to always destroy financial reports and papers containing personal data. You should never reveal your identification details over mail, internet or telephone. It is important to utilize an anti virus software and firewalls protection to stop hackers. You should always verify bank financial statements and credit card accounts and confirm the source of mails since banks never seek confidential information

Emails and passwords are the online thief’s bread and butter. Never divulge your passwords or personal data. There are several firms that will monitor your credit. Do not leave accounts open that have had no activity. You can slowly close them over time.

Emails claiming account verification or prize money are very common scams. Often a link is incleded in an email that looks real but is only designed to obtain information. Text messaging is never used by financial institutions so be wary. Craigslist has become a bredding ground for thieves. Never give out personal information or agree to a western union transfer.

Identity thieves often setup fake websites designed to lure you into giving account information. Credit Services will not ask you to confirm account details online. Often, the thief uses scare tactics in the email or website that threatens account closure without completing the form. Never respond to online prize notifications as well.

It is relatively easy to protect yourself from such scams if you are careful and follow several safety precautions. It is prudent to install and utilize the latest anti virus software in the market. The latest version of Windows contains Defender software that protects against spyware. Internet Explorer is available with built-in phishing filter and contains parental control facilities. The software provides regular updates which shelters the computer from hackers.