A former Chase call center rep tells the story about this one thief who was able to rip off one customer for over $40,000, thanks to his constant outwitting out the internationally out-sourced security department. It wasn’t that hard. Over and over again, he was able to commit credit card fraud just knowing the guy’s name, social, and mother’s maiden name.
money
Collector Threatens Jailtime Over Dead Debt
By 10.24.08
Reader R. kinda messed up his credit years ago. He’s a good boy now and his credit score is 700+, but now RSI Claims Process Services is hassling him about a 12-year-old credit card debt. They scared him into thinking they’re going to send him to jail and managed to squeeze a $100 “good-faith” payment out of him, but now he’s got second thoughts. And with good reason: the statute of limitations on the debt has well passed and threatening to send a debtor to jail is a violation of Federal law. Here’s his story and our advice…
Save Money by Bartering
By 10.24.08
barter for goods and services instead of buying them. Yep, bartering, the age-old method of economic exchange, is making a big comeback — though now it’s a high-tech operation that doesn’t limit you to your own set of acquaintances. We wrote about this back in July, but an economic practice that has survived from the beginning of our society deserves more than one post. Smart Money has 5 new tips it says will help you save by trading goods and skills you already have:
Understand The Financial Crisis In 3 Minutes
By 10.24.08
If you or someone you know still scratches their head when trying to understand how the financial crisis began and played out, the Washington Post has a 3-minute slideshow with voiceover by business reporter Frank Ahrens that clearly and succinctly explains how it all happened. The pictures are pretty, too.
There's No Such Thing As A Free Lunch Seminar
By 10.24.08
A 2007 SEC report said over half the free-lunch seminars they scoped out had misleading claims, 13% were straight up frauds, and 100% of the “free seminars,” many marketed at seniors, were, shock of shocks, actually sales presentations.
Stocks Are Still Sad
By 10.24.08
Monday’s brief hope of a better week for stocks was exactly that as the market continued its downward spiral through Friday and international indexes suffered body blows. [WSJ]
The Great Depression Diaries
By 10.23.08
July 30, 1931. Magazines and newspapers are full of articles telling people to buy stocks, real estate etc. at present bargain prices. They say that times are sure to get better and that many big fortunes have been built this way. The trouble is that nobody has any money.
By 10.23.08
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Man will be reimbursed after rats and birds ate his bag of $20 bills. Apparently, they were kind enough to leave the serial numbers intact. The man’s bank manager says that the U.S. Mint “officials instructed her to send the reassembled bills and the [rodent] feces and feathers to them in Washington, D.C.” [AP via Fark]
Personal Finance Roundup
By 10.23.08
5 Memberships Worth Signing Up For [Yahoo Finance] “There are some paid memberships that do pay for themselves — and quickly.”
How To Get A Raise When Times Are Tough
By 10.23.08
We’ve offered our suggestions for what to do in these uncertain financial times, but many of those ideas focused on hunkering down and riding out the storm. But what if you want to do more than that? How can you thrive in spite of the economy?
Consumerist Attends Robert Allen's Get Rich Quick In Real Estate Seminar
By 10.23.08
I wanted to find out what Robert Allen’s “get-rich-quick in real estate with no money down” promise was all about, so when I saw a full page ad in the Daily Post advertising one of his free seminars recently, I went and checked it out. I’ll give you a full run-down later, but here’s the quick and dirty, and what I can tell about how the darn thing seems to function.
Credit Cards Scammers Pretend To Be From BBB
By 10.22.08
Robo-scammers are ringing up consumers and pretending to the Better Business Bureau, saying, “We’re from BBB – Because of bailout, we can offer you a low-rate credit card.” In this iteration, we see several three common scam characteristics combined: *Unexpected communication * Automated communication * Mention of topical event * Use of recognizable institution’s name * Money-saving opportunity. Investigators were unable to tell the exact nature of the scam. It could be been to steal your account numbers, or it might have just been a marketing affiliate’s sleazy way of generating leads for a credit card company trying to get people to transfer their balances. Complaints have been received about the scam at a BBBs serving Washington, West Oregon and Northern Idaho, as well as Midland,Texas.
Despite Subprime Implosion, Robert Allen's Troops Still Pitch "Get Rich Quick In Real Estate With No Money Down"
By 10.21.08
Robert Allen promises to make you millions teaching you how to buy real estate with no money down. Unsurprisingly, Ripoffreport is littered with complaints about his company and those that use his name. Here’s the story they tell:
24% APR Crushes Reader To Death
By 10.21.08
I have a card with one bank (that I am trying my hardest to pay off ASAP) that is 24% APR. It is killing me. A week or two ago, you had an article about a woman who paid off all her credit card debt over the course of 20 months or so. Good for her and it was a good story. One thing about it had me wondering though. She said that she negotiated with her lenders to get lower interest rates on her cards. How do you suggest I do that?
Artists To Stage Literal Meltdown Of American Economy
By 10.21.08
On October 29, the economy will melt down. Not the general economy per se, but a 5 foot tall, 15 feet wide, 1,500 pound ice sculpture of the word “ECONOMY” in Manhattan’s Foley Square, relatively near to Wall Street. Artists Ligorano/Reese say, “this sculpture metaphorically captures the results of unregulated markets on the U.S. economy.” October 29 also happens to be the 79th anniversary of Black Tuesday.
"Whatever You Like" Parody: Coupon Clipping Is The New Largesse
By 10.21.08
Have you seen T.I.’s redonkulous “Whatever You Like” music video, where a burger girl gets picked up and gets drenched by the rapper in expensive alcohol, jewels, fancy cars and an evening of disgusting extravagance? If you haven’t, it’s basically TI singing “I will give you any number of expensive things so you will have sex with me,” on top off a rejected melody from a My Little Pony episode cut with the tinny reggatonic hiccups that pass for beats. Now, perhaps marking the first time I’ve found “Weird Al” Yankovic worth more than a “heh,” the musical parodist has released his own version of “Whatever You Like.” In it, he croons his lovergirl with tales of how they’ll spend time together clipping coupons and rolling up at Costco. As a gesture of his munificence, she can even have a large fry when they go to McDonald’s. Both songs in convenient YouTube format for easy comparison and contrast, inside.
AMEX Says You Closed Your Account While In Coma
By 10.21.08
According to the credit report, AMEX says Dan’s father-in-law closed a credit card he had with them while he was in a coma. Now Amex is using that to come after the mother-in-law for $15,000. Read the rest of the story, inside…
