SCAMS INFO

Are you worried about your credit card or debt card being stolen? You’re not alone, it’s estimated that 51% of people in the UK are concerned about their credit and debt cards being stolen. Credit card fraud is a consent worry, and with more people using there cards as there main source of paying for services and goods. It gives the criminals many more chances too get our information from our cards.

Credit card fraud is not new, the companies seem to be getting a head on how to stop the criminals, and then they come up with a new way it’s a never-ending problem. Credit card skimming is just one of the problems, that is where they take the information from the magnetic strip and transfer it on to another card. The companies are trying hard to fight back, they have hit back with the chip & pin card, which seems to be reducing fraud but give it time no doubt the criminals will find a way around that.

There are ways to help yourself with credit and debt card fraud, below are some useful tips in keeping the criminals at bay.

Credit card fraud is a big problem in today’s society, especially when the majority of people have multiple credit cards. A common form of identity theft is when somebody obtains your name and credit card number, then proceeds to purchase big ticket items at your expense. Whether they physically steal your card or get the number via electronic means they can still use it to run up debt in your name. Once you find out what is happening, it can take considerable time and effort getting the situation straightened out.

What Are Some Credit Card Fraud Prevention Methods?

The easiest thing to do is to pay close attention to people that handle your card when shopping. Make sure they quickly scan it and hand it back. Also make sure other shoppers in line aren’t looking closely at your credit card when it is out of your wallet. When you are finished make sure you keep the receipt in your wallet until you get home. A cross shredder is great for destroying any old receipts or personal documents when their usefulness has passed. Never place unshredded documents with personal information in the garbage.

Another thing to avoid doing is to not give out any credit card information, or other personal information for that matter, to phone solicitors. If someone calls you for whatever reason and asks for this type of information you don’t have to oblige. There are many scams involving people posing as creditors or other financial representatives for the purpose of stealing information.

Always go over your credit card statements each month before paying your bill. If something looks suspicious to you give them a call. Chances are you forgot about an item you ordered or your family member bought something without telling you, but that may not be the case. Their customer service department is there to help you with matters like this. It is up to you to be vigilant and keep track of how you use any of your credit cards.

Lastly, if you purchase items on the internet make sure the ecommerce website is 100% secure and states that in their policies. There are many ways to tell this, but you can usually tell by the web address starting with ‘https://’. You will also notice a small lock icon near the bottom of your web browser that will provide information about the security of the website. If you don’t see these items then avoid giving any personal information. You can always call them and place the order over the phone.

James McDonald writes for helpfuldebtsolutions.com where you can find fixed low interest credit cards and other information to help you manage your debt. We have many articles on a variety of financial topics.

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In this article we’re going to go over a type of fraud that can hit you in multiple directions. This is tax fraud.

There is an old saying that what goes around comes around. Tax fraud may be the first thing the gods were talking about when they came up with that one. See, a person who commits tax fraud may very well end up being a victim himself. We’ll explain how shortly.

So what exactly is tax fraud? Simply put, tax fraud is the attempt of an individual or corporation to evade having to pay income taxes to the federal or state government, or at least an attempt to reduce their tax burden. This is probably the most common type of fraud in the United States today.

The truth is, many people engage in tax fraud to some degree. Some just engage in it more so than others. The mildest of offenders may report a little more charitable deduction than what they really gave to their church, Salvation Army, or local police department. While the amount of money they save may be a relative drop in the bucket, it is still fraud just the same. Others may report medical expenses they paid that were eventually reimbursed to them. Because this is very hard to check most of these deductions go unnoticed.

But the big problems are the ones caused by the very wealthy and the large corporations. These are the people the government rely on for a bulk of their income and these are the people who, when income tax time comes around, end up paying less than some folks who don’t have two nickels to rub together. The variety of schemes these wealthy people and corporations use to evade paying taxes is numerous to say the least, from bogus or greatly inflated entertainment expenses to bogus tax shelters.

And that is where sometimes the practice of these frauds comes back to bite these people. All too often when an individual or corporation commits tax fraud through some tax shelter scheme what ultimately ends up happening way too often is the person or company offering the scheme takes the individual’s or corporation’s money and runs off with it, never to be seen again. This is where the saying what goes around comes around comes in. The individual or corporation can’t report the crime because they had intended to commit a crime themselves. So what happens is they have to eat their loss. Some would say that they got their just desserts. Unfortunately the number of individuals and corporations that get away with tax fraud far outnumber the ones who get caught or end up having their money take an unexpected trip to an overseas account.

There is really very little one can do about tax fraud as the smart individuals and corporations are usually very good at this. The only thing you can do if you suspect someone is committing tax fraud is report this activity to the IRS. You can do this by either calling their toll free number, mailing to them or going to one of their walk in offices.

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Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Fraud
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