Computer Chip Credit Cards – What it Means for Credit Card Security

Have you ever received a call from Visa, American Express, or another credit card company telling you that your credit card information was hacked and your card is being cancelled while new replacement cards are sent? I have, and it can be a hassle resolving the fraudulent charges and waiting for a new card. And it’s an even bigger hassle for the credit card company who has to track down where the card was used to try to get the money back to minimize their losses. However, due to new technology, the amount of fraudulent charges will be drastically decreasing. By the end of 2015, US financial institutions will have distributed more than 600 million chip cards—a credit card with a computer chip embedded into the card that will increase its security and decrease consumer fraud. A recent article in The Deseret News highlights why the new cards are becoming more popular and what it means for consumers.

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year… For Scammers Too

During the holiday season, many people choose to give and help others around them, but sometimes due to the spirit of giving that abounds, we tend to let our guard down. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette recently published an article which outlines five popular scams to be sure to avoid this holiday season.

U.S. States with Highest Consumer Fraud

24/7 Wall Street published an analysis of consumer fraud that ranked the top ten states in terms of complaints to the Federal Trade Commission per 100,000 people. FTC complaints are put in two categories: identity theft complaints and other fraud complaints. Identity theft was the top category with debt collection fraud coming in second. Here are the top ten states as published by 24/7 Wall Street:

Avoiding Consumer Fraud [Guest Post]

“You’ve just won $10,000! Act now! This opportunity won’t last long!” Every day, millions of consumers run into ploys like this one, and some of these people fall victim to the scam. Americans lose hundreds of billions of dollars to consumer fraud every year.

Victims of mass market fraud could potentially lose their life savings and/or have the need to file for bankruptcy. Con artists can find these innocent people through the internet, by telephone, email, and even post mail. People easily get tricked into trusting these scams and give out money or their very valuable personal information.

What is Consumer Fraud?