April has been Credit Card Question and Answer month here at Financial Elite. We continue with Part 2 with information provided from an article from SmartMoney about the little known rules that are costing you money and putting your credit, your identity and your family at risk.
2. "When it comes to identity theft, we're part of the problem."
Tony Sciulli of Santa Barbara, an identity theft victim, says it all started with a forged credit card application. A $3,000 balance was mysteriously transferred to a new credit card in his name, followed by a ready made check billed to one of his other cards. What can you do to avoid this sort of low tech thievery? Buy a shredder, and minimize the credit credit applications coming to your house by registering at OptOutPrescreen.com
But paper solicitations are only the beginning. As Internet security expert and author Bruce Schneier warns, "Data about you is not under your control." He points to examples such as May 2005 case involving Bank of America and Wachovia, in which a man posing as collection agent paid bank employees for customer data in New Jersey. The banks notified customers their data may have been compromised and offered to help watch their accounts for suspicious activity. (The man, Orazio Lembo, pleaded guilty in March 2007 and was sentenced to five years in prison and fined $20,000.)
But John Hall, a spokesman for the American Bankers Association, insists that banks have "Pentagon level security." His advice:"Monitor your accounts. Protect your passwords and your computer."
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