Now that the holidays are over and tax season is well under way. You should have received your W-2 or 1099s in the mail by the end of January and started collecting information to complete your tax return. This also brings out those who want to scam you to get your personal information disguised as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

You may receive emails, phone calls, letters or faxes claiming to be the Internal Revenue Service.  These scammers want your personal information such as Social Security number, bank account and or credit card numbers to commit identity theft and steal your money and or open accounts in your name.

New Scam

One new email scam, supposedly from the Internal Revenue Service, warns taxpayers that they did not submit an updated W-2 form. It includes a link to a phishing website that asks them to enter their W-2 information such as Social Security number, address and wages. read more »

The National Foundation for Credit Counseling’s (NFCC) December online poll asked consumers to rank their 2012 financial resolutions.   This poll was conducted at their web site from December 1 to 31, 2011 with 2319 individuals responding to it.  The same poll was also conducted in December 2010. Decrease debt was the number one priority for the majority of those responding in both years.

Survey question

The question asked was: What was their number one financial New Year’s resolution for 2012?  The four choices were: decrease debt, improve credit score, increase savings, and decrease dependence on credit cards.  Here is how they responded: read more »

Have you received a bill from your credit card company that lets you skip your minimum payment for that month as a gift for being such a good customer? This is the most common during the holiday season or right after.  Don’t fall for this.  You will still have to pay the interest charges on the unpaid balance. This information is usually in the “fine print”.

It may sound great right after you have made all those holiday purchases and have to start paying for them.  Keep in mind, you should not make the minimum payment anyway and this really isn’t a gift to you, but more money for the card issuer. The only benefit is you won’t have to pay the late fees on the amount.  Depending upon the amount you owe, the interest you pay can be high. read more »

Debt collectors usually work for a collection agency and collect unpaid debt on behalf of creditors. Most debt collectors are legitimate, but there are those that don’t follow the laws and harass debtors. On the other hand, there are those who impersonate a collector and are really identity thieves.  Their purpose is to get personal information from you such as Social Security number, bank account numbers, and or credit card numbers. The debt collection industry is policed by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).

Tactics of imposters

Here are some of the tactics used by these imposters. They use threats to get you to pay the debt, such as threatening to get you arrested.  They call frequently and at any time of day or night. They may have some information on you, such as address or Social Security number.  They try to intimidate you into providing your credit card or bank account information to use as payment. They use company names that sound official. read more »

Javelin Strategy and Research conducted its annual study on mobile bank security called –  “5^th Annual Mobile Security Report: Mitigating Security Risks Transforms the Mobile Banking Channel”.  More than 3,000 consumers were surveyed about their mobile banking channels: web browser, application, and SMS texting. Web browsers were used by 44% of the responders; apps used by 25% and texting used by 19%. According to Javelin, texting is the least secure method and apps are the most secure.

Three channels

1. SMS texting is a form of phishing called SMiShing which uses text messages to trick consumers into giving out personal information.  This explains why it is the least secure of the three. read more »

Some believe that if a bill is charged-off, it is no longer due. That is not the situation, the bill is still owed.   If the creditor is unsuccessful in getting the account paid, it is written-off their books as a loss.  This is usually after the bill is 180 days or more past due.  The creditor has now categorized this account as late stage delinquency, and is often handed over to a third party collection agency for them to collect.  The creditor hopes to get a portion of the money back.

Collection agency

The next step is the collection agency will contact you for payment of the bill.  Now you are dealing with the collection agency, which is usually more aggressive than the creditor. They will call you and send you a verification of the bill.   Per the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), they aren’t permitted to harass you to get the bill paid.  I have mentioned your rights in this blog in the past. If the collection agency is unable to get timely payment of the account, they could contact an attorney to sue you. read more »

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued The National Do Not Call Registry Data Book for FY 2011 in mid-November. 2011. The FTC’s National Do Not Call Registry provides consumers with an easy way to stop unwanted telemarketing calls.

According to this Data Book, at the end of Fiscal Year 2011 (September 30, 2011), the Do Not Call Registry contained 209,722,924 actively registered phone numbers, up from 201,542,535 at the end of Fiscal Year 2010, or a 4/1 percent increase. In addition, the number of consumer complaints about unwanted telemarketing calls increased from 1,633,819 at the end of Fiscal Year 2010 to 2,272,662 at the end of Fiscal Year 2011, which was a 39.1 percent increase. read more »

Now that the holidays are over, the bills are coming in for those holiday gifts. That is, only if you charged them instead of paying in cash.  You may also receive pre-approved credit card offers, which let you transfer your credit card balances at a reduced interest rate for a certain time frame.  For example, the offer could be an interest rate of 0% (or close to it) for 12 to 21 months for the amount transferred.

Five Tips

If you plan to pay your bills off within the timeframe of the offer, you may want to consider it.  If you usually carry a balance or pay bills late, a balance transfer is probably not for you. read more »

This almost turned out to be the shortest article ever, one word…”none.”  Prepaid cards are not reported to the three major credit reporting agencies (CRAs) – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.   I found three prepaid loadable cards that state they report to credit reporting agencies.  The three cards are Prepaid Visa RushCard, READYdebit Visa and AccountNow. They don’t report to the three major companies, but to Payment Reporting Builds Credit (PRBC).  Ever heard of them?  I didn’t think so. read more »

The robo call bill died in Congress in mid-December 2011.  This bill was called the “Mobile Informational Call Act of 2011”.  It would have permitted companies to contact businesses and consumers via automated dialing to their cell phone which also included texting.

Reasons for support

This bill was supported by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Air Transport Association and other groups representing bankers, mortgage lenders, debt collectors and college loan lenders. Below are some of the reasons these groups supported this bill: read more »