Hidden, fraudulent, charges on your phone bill could end up costing you big over time. Inside, we’ve got a guide to spotting and rectifying this fee-skimming.
fraud
Nothing Can Save You From Hotels Stealing Your Credit Cards
By 11.6.06
A call with Washington Mutual confirms that besides vigilance, there’s nothing you can do to stop hotels from stealing your credit card information.
Hotel Workers Arrested For Stealing Guest Credit Cards
By 11.3.06
10 owners, managers and employees of 7 Joliet area hotels were arrested last night for selling guest credit card numbers. A scam, authorities say, that could be going on across the nation.
HOWTO: Avoid ID Theft
By 10.31.06
According a Gallup poll 19% of consumers report having their financial information stolen including a bank or credit card number.
Ask The Consumerist: Ebay Laptop, Without The Fraud?
By 10.26.06
“Whatever IT is, you can get IT on Ebay,” goes the promise. Unfortunately for reader Wil, “it” has meant, “almost being scammed.”
Long-Distance RFID Snagging Possible, Already Done
By 10.24.06
After posting about the danger posed by magic wand credit cards, some readers pooh-poohed the notion that someone could build a device capable of reading RFID from a distance.
Foil RFID Thieves. Literally.
By 10.23.06
The tin-foil hat contingent may have finally hit on something right.
No-Swipe Credit Card No Problem For Thieves
By 10.23.06
Radio-frequency enabled credit cards allow consumers to complete transactions with a flick of the wrist, but new research shows that it’s not just consumers and merchants who will find the new system easier.
Guide To ID Theft Prevention
By 10.18.06
Sometimes ID theft seems like the weather. Everyone talks about it, but what can you do about it? This online guide covers on the dangers, how thieves get your info, and how to protect yourself
Mortgage Fraud Festered Under Housing Bubble, Feds Investigate
By 10.6.06
In ’05, a small company bought up run-down duplexes in northeast Indiana at $50,000 a pop. Less than a month later, they were selling them for $120,000 to church secretaries, truckers, retirees and factory workers.
Car Dealership Bilks Old Man and Steals $2000 With His ATM Card
By 9.26.06
You might think that going after car dealers for shady dealings is just too obvious and easy for the Consumerist. So it’s not just any car dealer story that rises to the top of our hallowed frontpage.
Cali Dollar Trees Source of ATM Hacks
By 8.3.06
Shopping at the Dollar Tree could end up costing you a lot. Hundreds of California patrons of the discount store report having money jacked from their debit accounts, reports KCRA. Most likely, this was through the use of cloned ATM cards.
Don’t Buy From an Ebay Scam Bot
By 8.2.06
Savvy Ebay shoppers look at a seller’s satisfaction rating, but it takes more than a glance.
Baby Boomers a Bust vs. Investment Fraud
By 7.18.06
The LA Times, the Seven-up to our morning NYT Seagram’s, details the rise of investment fraud against baby boomers. The phenom is slightly ironic because the age segment is supposed to boast a higher financial acumen than previous generations. Some of the pernicious tactics con men use to lure victims into their scams include:
Portrait of an Idio… Er, Identity Thief
By 7.5.06
Meet Shiva Sharma. Husband, father, identity thief, inmate of the Mohawk Correctional Facility in Rome, New York. Shiva has no idea how much money he’s stolen from other people, but by the time of his third arrest for identity theft, he’d been nailed in connection with over $150,000 in credit card fraud transaction.
PIN Block Phish, Basted
By 6.12.06
Oh, this is just classic. Phishers are now trying to capitalize on the PIN block crisis.
Killer Grannies Played Insurance Game To The Death
By 5.23.06
The schlock thickens in the case of a pair of twisted sisters-in-crime who befriended homeless men, took out insurance policies on them naming themselves as beneficiaries, and then ran the men over with cars for the insurance money.
