Signing Your Credit Cards

Vendors Can Refuse Unsigned Credit Cards


I usually either put See ID or sign them and put See ID Also. Lately though I've noticed that if the transaction is small, under $20 the cashier doesn't even look at the signature. I find this convenient since it is my card plus in all news accounts of thieves using stolen cards they spend much more than $20.

Credit Card Fraud

13 people indicted in $3 million credit card fraud

New York (AP) -- The diners didn't know it, but their credit cards were going to pay for more than their meals, prosecutors said.

Waiters in about 40 restaurants, in New York and elsewhere, quietly recorded customers' credit card information and passed it on to people who used the information to make more than $3 million worth of worth of illegal purchases, according to prosecutors.

Thirteen people were indicted Friday on charges stemming from their roles in the credit card fraud, prosecutors said.

The credit card account information was stolen from customers who visited restaurants in Manhattan's Chinatown and other parts of the New York metropolitan area, as well eateries in Florida, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Some members of the group stole customers' information; some made the counterfeit cards; others shopped for merchandise; and finally someone bought the goods for cash, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said.

Morgenthau said 12 of the 13 people indicted are in custody and are expected to be arraigned Monday. All the defendants are being charged with fourth-degree conspiracy, punishable by up to four years in prison. Seven are also being charged with second-degree grand larceny, which carries a penalty of up to 15 years.

Authorities were still seeking one suspect, identified by prosecutors only as "John Doe."

When the 35-year-old ringleader was arrested Wednesday, Morgenthau said, police found 296 fake credit cards, $200,000 in cash, numerous Rolex watches and expensive handbags in his Brooklyn home.

The district attorney said conspiracy leaders recruited and managed people who worked as waiters and provided them with small, hand-held "skimmers" that read and recorded information on the magnetic strips of patrons' credit cards.

The leaders, some of whom worked in the restaurants with their recruits, then collected the skimming devices and paid the waiters $35 to $50 for information from each credit card stored in the devices, Morgenthau said.

He said the conspirators operated from November 2005 until this week.
The suspects used the stolen information to create counterfeit credit cards by encoding the information on high-quality credit card blanks, Morgenthau said.

A few people I know don't order over the internet. "Oh no, it's not safe", they say. I say it's just as safe as using it in a store or as in this case a restaurant. I admit I do get a bit edgy when it takes the waitperson a long time to come back with my card. Nothing has ever happened but you never know. But really as this story points out they use skimmers and that takes what? 2 seconds? Unless I get gigged by an old school criminal who writes down the number or takes a smoke break goes out to the parking lot and orders a bunch of stuff from a catalog. Hee.

When I worked at Meijer (in the Video Rentals), a girl got fired because she got caught writing down customer's credit card numbers. I don't know if she actually used any of them or not. We didn't keep the applications with the customer name, address, social security number, credit card numbers safe either. They were rubber-banded together by day, then month. Then put in a box, then stuck in the back room where any other employee could get at them. There weren't any surveillance cameras back there either. Those were the good old days.

Any how, another reason (like I need one) to check my credit cards online frequently and get my Credit Report at least annually. You really can never be too careful.


$1.25 Cherry Coke
$ .80 Baby Ruth

I need to go grocery shopping!!

Money Tip: Save, spend and give jars

From Lifehacker:

Flickr user Stephanie Barnes is teaching her son Miles financial responsibility using 3 glass jars, which he labeled "Spend," "Give" and "Save."

One dollar of his allowance goes into each jar once a week. Spending money buys what he wants, saved money stays in the jar, and give money goes to charity, for a fabulously simple way to teach a child how to manage income. —Gina Trapani

I've always paid my bills this way. When I was 11 or 12 years old, I got my first job selling consessions at church bingo on Friday and Sunday nights. $3 + tips. I had (actually still have) a green index card box. On the index cards I would write the name of the bill and each weekend I would seperate my money amongst the cards. At first it was just books, Cedar Point, Christmas gifts. After I got older, and got a job at McDonald's my bills of course were different such as car insurance, clothes and make-up.

I still pay out money this way but just with direct deposit to my two different checking accounts and credit cards. I blogged about it here. This is about as close to a budget as I get but since I've been doing it for so many years it's natural and works well for me.


$3.00 Beaner's
4.20 Post Office

Investments

I updated my stock holdings today. When the statements come in, I put them in pile next to the computer and once in a (great) while, I look them over, then file them away.

Ford, 105.88 shares = $848.10
Visteon, 40.55 shares = $355.23
Pepsi, 42.97 shares = $2,736.62
Harley-Davidson, 110.79 shares = $6,819.94
Yum!, 14.13 shares = $831.12
CMS, 228.73 shares = $4,149.07
AT&T, 130.91 shares = $5,140.92

401K as of 12/31/06 = $93,067.94

IRA's
Mid Cap Growth = $35,177.97
Blue Chip Growth = $15,115.69

Looking over the IRA statements it looks like I didn't max out my investments for 2006. I had even asked when I called to reset my password for their website. I could have used the $2,000 I put in for 2007 for 2006 and been up-to-date. Oh well, good thing I found out now instead of after the 15th! Then I would have really been upset. I wonder if I can charge it? Then I can get my bonus points, order a withdrawal from the credit union and make the payment when the check gets here on Monday. If not, I have to go to Target so I'll be on that side of town, I can just get the withdrawal myself and mail it today.

Update: Hmm, evidently I have too much money to manage alone. Hee. I called T.Rowe Price about my IRA contributions. Evidently, in January of this year I sent $2,000 in for 2006 then in March I sent in $2,000 for 2007. At first I really thought that they had credited someone else's money to my account, but I was wrong. I looked in my checkbook and there it was. How I forgot about that, I don't know, but I did. So 2006 is fully funded, and 2007 is 1/2 done. I should be able to get the other 1/2 invested by May.

I'm still waiting for a callback from the insurance adjustor. I already paid $1,700 for the work and charged the materials, they came up close to $1,500. I'm thinking maybe she's on vacation because of Easter. If I don't hear from her today, I'll call again on Monday. My checking account is looking a bit pathetic after all the pay outs.

Identity Theft

I think most of us are aware of identity fraud and take steps to prevent it. Some of the things I do are:

1) I never mail anything from my house, I use the post office or their drop box
2) Rip off my name, address and account numbers from all mail and run it through a cross cutting shredder
3) Make sure to always take credit card receipts with me
4) Check my credit report at least annually to look for unfamiliar accounts (free credit report information here)
5) Check my credit card statements for unfamiliar purchases

More ways to protect yourself can be found here.

But here's a new way thieves can gain access to your information. I'll admit I've never heard of this.

Copy machines made within the last five years have disk drives the same as computers do. So when you make a copy, say of your tax return, the copy machine retains your information.

Although there are no known instances of fraud by this method the possibility still exists.

Yesterday:

$6.08 Jimmy John's

Paying Off Credit Card Debt

Are you ready to finally get your debt under control?? Really??

Some of these tips we've already gone over so if you haven't already done them, what are you waiting for?

1. Make a list of your cards and their interest rates. Pay off highest interest rates first.
Continue to make payments on your other cards.

2. Call each company and ask for a lower rate. You may be surprised how easy it is. And if you don't ask, the answer is always NO.

3. Either set up automatic payments from a savings or checking account or do what I do and every payday make an online payment of at least 1/2 of minimum payment. Of course, you'll have to diligent and make sure the 2nd 1/2 of the payment is in before the actual due date. On you are on schedule though it is a fool-proof system. You avoid late payments, extra fees and possible interest rate increases.

4. Consider transferring all debt to a low or zero interest card.

5. Personally, I recommend closing accounts after they are paid off if you aren't going to be using them. But if you will be purchasing a home or a car in the near future, it's probably best to not close a bunch of cards all at once.

Every March, when I get my free credit reports, it seems like I find store credit cards I had forgotten about, so I write to the issuing company and close them. It has never negatively affected my credit.

6. After paying off one card, use the money that did go to that payment to pay off the next highest card faster. Or split that freed up money over the rest of your payments, this is of course if you haven't consolidated your cards.

Frugal

Living within your means. But what exactly does that entail? Well for one, don't spend more than you make. Pretty easy actually. If you bring home $500 per paycheck, spend less than that, not more. Don't use credit cards if you are tempted to overspend. Set up a budget then stick to it. Put money in an emergency fund so that you don't have an unexpected expense which will set you back. Use a spending journal to track where EXACTLY you can cut unnecessary spending.

I'm not sure if the term "Keeping up with the Jones' " is still used but I'm sure you know what it means. Who are you REALLY trying to impress by driving a Hummer and/or a Cadillac that you can't make the payments on? Why have a $200,000 with 4 bedrooms 3 baths for a couple with no children? Especially if you then have no money to keep up with maintaince?

My two favorite sayings are, "Anyone can make a payment" that's my original saying. Yeah you may drive a Hummer but is is PAID for? Can you sleep at night? Or are you tossing and turning worrying about how to pay the bills? Are you afraid that when you get home from work that today will be the day that the electric company turns off the power and you'll have no lights? Life is stressful enough, why add extra unnecessary stress?

My other saying that I read in a finance book (can't remember which one) is, "Big hat, no cattle". Yeah you LOOK successful, but you aren't. You're just pretending. Posing. Big deal. I'd rather be the frugal little old lady that people think is poor but when I die my will is read and it's discovered I'm a millionaire.

I prefer to live BELOW my means and not worry about how I'm going to pay the bills every payday. The stress is really not worth it.

Trust me.


$1.25 Cherry Coke

Balance Transfers

Before when I still had outstanding credit card debt, I would take advantage of balance transfer offers to get 0% interest. My debt was never more than $2,000 and I could always pay it off in whatever time-frame specified by the new cardholder.

My rules for doing this are: 1) Close the old account. 2) No new charges. 3) Divide the balance by the time of the introductory rate and make every payment on time.

I have (and always have had) excellent credit so once I choose an offer there is no problem getting approved. On the oline application there is a section to list the account numbers and amount to be paid. They take care of everything for you. All you need to do is call then write the old company to close the account.

Here's an article from SmartMoney.com that is interesting:

If You Really Want to Be Clever

Play your cards right, and you can even use a balance transfer offer to earn money. Here's how: Say you use a 12-month, 0% balance transfer offer to write a check to yourself and sock away $10,000 in a high-yield savings account earning 5.05%. Still making monthly payments of $150, you could pay back the remaining balance in full at the end of the year — and come away with $475 in earned interest.

I see what they are saying and can see HOW it works but I don't like it. There is no such thing as a free money and I'm leary of doing this. While I do have the discipline to make the payments and not touch the principle I still don't recommend it. I've read some bloggers who are using this method and I'll have to watch and see if they have any problems.


$4.37 prescription
12.50 Pepsi
2.00 50/50

Credit Cards

As I said in a previous post I use very little cash. I try to charge as much as possible, then pay the charge card off each payday. I find it easier to keep track of spending this way.

I only have two active charge cards. Amazon Visa and Blue from American Express. Blue gives cash back and Amazon sends a $25 voucher after so many points are earned. They periodically have double and triple points. I use the voucher for magazine subscriptions, Cd's or books that I really want. I normally don't purchase books (I go to the library) and now Amazon sells groceries and other items besides books.

If you are using store credit cards with high interest rates while carrying balances, check out Credit Cards.com or Bankrate.com for a better rate. Make sure you close the original line of credit and destroy the card. If you have multiple credit cards you can also consolidate to one low rate card. But you MUST be disciplined enough to destroy the original cards and CLOSE the accounts. Also make payments on time and even extra to pay down the balance as quickly as possible.

I NEVER get a card that requires an annual fee. There is no reason for an annual fee in my opinion. Also if there is a choice between two or more cards and one offers cash back or points that I can use to my benefit and one doesn't, I go with the one that benefits me.

When I have transferred money from one card to a new one in the past, I NEVER pay for it. Look for a card that has NO FEE or call and ask to have the fee waived. If the offer is for ZERO percent for a fixed amount of time. Divide the amount by the number of months and divide that by the number of paychecks you'll have in that time. Round up and make that amount of payment each payday by computer.

Assignment:

Verify the interest rate you currently pay. Look for a card with a lower interest rate and no transfer fee with the longest time frame to repay.

$2.78 gas station (junk food)

January 10, 2007

$1.58 McDonald's
5.50 Water Store