One of the most common ways you can get in debt is from fraud. Someone steals the information from your credit card and makes frivolous purchases, and you get charged for it. The scary part about this is there are so many ways an outside party can get your information. Someone could steal personal information you have typed into an unsecured website. An employee could take your information when you have used your credit card to make a purchase. Somebody can even go through your trash to look for old credit statements you have thrown away. Earlier in the year, someone stole the information from my debit card after I went to an unsecured website, and let me tell you it is absolutely infuriating to see money being taken out of your account by someone who has no idea who you are! If you think someone has stolen your credit card information, you need to fill out a security alert. Continue reading
Consumer Protection
Avoid Questionable Free Debt Advice
“Free debt advice.” While this is surely one of the most widely advertised three-word phrases across different forms of media, it is also one that should be regarded with extreme caution. The volume of Americans who find themselves in dire straits has spawned a wide array of unreliable sources of debt relief counsel that play upon desperation to resolve personal financial problems. Consequently, there are an unending number of entities which claim to offer debt reduction advice at no cost. Many websites which claim to offer free advice in actuality refer web surfers to debt settlement options which have complex and extensive costs. Given the lack of accountability that exists among many of these groups and the dubious nature of many who advertise “free debt advice”, it’s important to know about recommended options. Continue reading
Healthy Consumer Skepticism Fades When Facing Debt Problems
You saw the ad on television. Even more ads are seen online. Surely no one would make such claims if they couldn’t back it up. Otherwise, the government would clamp down, right? Continue reading
Debt UNsettlement Companies
YOU CAN DO IT ON YOUR OWN… SO LET US HELP YOU
Debt settlement companies provide a great opportunity to run your credit report into the ground. In loud, obnoxious advertisements, they promise to reduce your debt by 60 to 80% in a little less than half a year. But their first piece of advice is to stop paying your creditors. Continue reading
There is Only One Government Program for Credit Card Debt Relief
Programs are available for credit card debt relief, and their effectiveness varies greatly by provider and type of program. We like to think that the government will bail us out just as they did the banks. However, there is only one government program that addresses credit card debt and it is not a grant. Continue reading
Debt-Relief Grants: Facts in the Fiction
The U.S. Government awards many types of grants, usually for investments on collective social capital; in layman’s terms, a federal grant is awarded to a recipient for the purpose of carrying out a specific objective intended to benefit our nation’s public on the whole. This intent states that grants are not given as federal assistance or as loans to individuals1. Continue reading
How to Get Tax Relief: Scams and Reviews
Income tax debt is one of the more difficult types of debt to deal with. After all, the government has a way of securing any debt, and they will often collect their taxes before you get a chance to pay your other bills. If you are looking for income tax relief, how do you know who to trust when so many tax relief scams are operating? Continue reading
What is the Puerto Rican Tax Refund Scam?
Recently a Puerto Rico tax refund scam has cost the Internal Revenue Service almost $2 billion and jeopardized the identity of thousands of Puerto Rican adults and children. This scam has been in existence for around five years, and its perpetrators come from across the United States and Latin America. In many cases this scheme has been highly successful due to the cooperation of mail carriers, tax preparation specialists, and in some cases bank tellers. Continue reading
Identity theft insurance can be inexpensive
One day you wake up and you realize that you can’t find your wallet. You eventually recognize that your wallet has been lost and you have to call and cancel all of your bank cards. Then suddenly your heart sinks as you remember that you left your social security card in your wallet because of a doctors appointment you recently had. What do you do? Has anything similar to this scenario been reality to you? Is there anyway you can protect yourself from this? Continue reading
Spotting foreign lottery scams
Imagine this…you receive a letter saying you have won an international lottery contest. To obtain your winnings you must first wire money to an overseas account to cover the insurance. You quickly wire the money, but are told that the initial insurance amount you were told was incorrect and you must send more money. Again, you wire the money, but a few days, and then a few weeks, and then a few months pass and you never receive a dime of your winnings. Continue reading
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