by admin | Consumer Proposal, Credit Counseling, Credit Repair, Uncategorized
Credit card fraud is an all encompassing term for a form of theft and/or fraud that may be perpetrated though the illegal use of a credit card, in order to purchase goods or services as a fraudulent source of finance in a monetary transaction The purpose may be to either acquire anything without paying for it or alternately to gain access to funds in an account that the individual has no legal right to operate.
There are many broad categories of credit card fraud, these include:
Credit Card theft
Having a card stolen can be a traumatic experience and it becomes even more so if you find yourself being billed for products that you never purchased. Unfortunately, credit card theft is a pretty common phenomenon and it is imperative that a lost card should be reported and blocked ‘as soon as possible’ to avert such losses.
On the plus side though, it is not as easy for prospective thieves to actually steal credit cards and buy stuff with them. This is because more and more merchants now ask for at least some form of identification when they are being paid though credit cards. Additionally many credit card facility providing financial institutions also add a photograph of the owner’s face to the card’s front side as a security measure. While these may not be fool proof measures but they have helped mitigate losses resulting from credit card theft to an extent.
Account takeover
An account can be said to be ‘taken over’ when a fraudster manages to acquire the personal information of a credit card holder (such as mother’s maiden name, date of birth, home address and other personal information). The prospective swindler then approaches the cardholder’s bank all the while pretending to be the original card holder, he informs them that he has lost his card and has also shifted his address. Once the card is delivered to him in the name of the original owner, he may be able to steal at will till the original card holder finds out what is happening and has the card blocked.
Skimming
This is by far the most common method of credit card fraud. Skimming works by putting a legitimate card in a machine that looks just like an actual credit card reader. But in reality the machine, unlike a conventional card reader saves all the details of the card. These details are then extracted and computer hackers may use them to make unsecure transactions or even create new cards from them altogether.
”Borrowing” the card
When you hand over your card to a gas station attendant or a waiter in a restaurant when making a payment, he has the opportunity to note down your card number as well as other details. These can then be used to make unauthorized online transactions in your name.
Phishing
This is also another well known form of credit card fraud. Instead of stealing or ‘borrowing,’ the fraudster deceives his victims into disclosing their credit card details. He may call them pretending to be a bank officer or send them emails promising them winnings in a lottery ticket. Some net savvy swindlers have even been known to create websites identical to original bank sites. Once the data is entered, the thieves go to work immediately transferring either funds or buying expensive products online.
Conclusion
Irrespective of the method used, using a credit card without due authorization is considered stealing in Canada and as such is considered a criminal offence in the eyes of the law.
by admin | Credit Counseling, Uncategorized
Few parents would disagree to the importance of quality education for their offspring. Unfortunately such education does not come cheap. Therefore, it is imperative that you plan before hand since it is arguably the best investment you can make for your children.
However, once you make up your mind that you will start saving for your kids’ future, you will realise that it’s not really that difficult to save up and does not involve any big financial sacrifices either for you or your spouse.
1. Make saving Attractive for your Children
Since it’s their own future at stake it would be prudent to get the young ones involved in the saving process. This is because it is not all that difficult a concept to understand and once the child grasps it, then it just might be a life altering experience for him or her. You may consider giving your child a small allowance or stipend so as to make them understand that you don’t have unlimited resources and they are also responsible for their own future. But while doing so also make sure that they spend at least a quarter of their allowance on their own basic necessities such as clothes and school books.
2. Investment Bonds
Investment bonds may easily be acquired from any number of financial institutions and are now becoming a universally accepted option for funding the future educational needs of children and young adults in Canada. These bonds are available in a variety of different investment options that may include both variable as well as fixed interest.
3. Start as early as possible
When it comes to your children’s future, it is never too early to start. If you plan ahead by saving as early as possible, you would be able to have a tidy nest egg by the time your kids grow up to be of college going age.
4. Be Creative in your Saving
If you feel that the amount you are saving is not good enough to afford your children a quality education, even in the long run than figure out just what part of your expenses have to curtail so as to ensure that your savings are correspondingly higher. For instance, if you ‘order in’ four times a week, reduce it to twice a week and put the amount saved into your kid’s education ‘nest egg.’
5. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
If you want to save and invest for junior’s education, it would be advisable not to put all your savings in only one account. Rather you should try and hedge your bets by investing in different places such as investment bonds or stocks or even property.
6. Set clear cut goals
Once you have determined how much you want to save and for how long, you may set your core goal accordingly and in this way budget your monthly expenses. Since this type of saving would be more in the nature of a day to day observation of expenses, it would help you stay on track while serving to keep you motivated in the long run as well.
by admin | Bankruptcy, Consumer Proposal, Credit Counseling, Uncategorized
The rather unusually named ‘debt snowball’ strategy is a method many credit counselling agencies espouse as a means to help reduce your overall debt burden over an extended period of time. This stratagem is not all that difficult to master one you are able to understand it completely.
Essentially, how the system works is that if you have more than one credit card debt, you are required to pay off the smallest debts first while making only minimum payments of the larger debts regardless of how large they are.
Once the smallest debts have been completely eliminated, you may than move on to the next smaller one while following the same concept of paying more for the smaller debts and keeping away ever impending solvency by making minimum payments of the larger debts, overall.
Slowly and gradually, as all your smaller debts are eliminated one by one, you may then increase the payment amounts of your larger debts rather than continue to pay the minimum amounts you were making before to your credit card service providers. Eventually, your larger credit card debts would also be paid and you would be finally able to live a debt free life once again.
How it works
The ‘Debt Snowball’ method aims to get rid of smaller debts first even if they are charging low interest rates and encourages you to make only minimum payments of even high interest loans regardless of how much higher they may be.
According to this strategy, the money that you earn every month will be utilized to pay off the smallest debts first (however, you have to make sure that it does not affect your basic living expenses since then you would be forced to take even more loans effectively exacerbating the vicious cycle) while the minimum dues on your other loans are paid irrespective of the fact that their interest rates are steadily increasing and you may in essence have to end up paying ‘interest on interest.’
However, if you have two or more credit card loans whose payables are roughly equal, then many credit counselling agencies advise paying off the one whose interest rates are higher.
There are some key factors to take into ‘account’ (pun intended) while attempting to create the proverbial ‘Debt Snowball’
1. Stop spending beyond your means!
This is the most basic step of all. You can’t really expect to live a debt free life if you continue to use your credit cards to spend money that you don’t have, while being well aware of the fact that this is the single most important factor that is responsible for putting you in debt in the first place!
2. Be Myopic
Most credit counselling companies that use the debt snowball approach also advise you to acquire ‘tunnel vision’ instead of trying to pay off all your bills simultaneously. When it comes to credit card bills, focus on only one bill at a time and start on another one only after the first one has been completely paid off.
3. Don’t stop at the very first pay off
Once a bill has been paid off successfully, rather than using the money freed to buy non essentials, it is advisable to continue to utilise that sum to pay off the next bill. This process has to continue without a break till ‘all’ your debts have been paid off and you can now enjoy a completely debt free life.
by admin | Uncategorized
Not everyone is born with the financial acumen necessary to stay out of debt. By and large the unrestrained rush for consumer goods (such as the latest vehicles or smart phones) actually makes many of us spend more than we earn. And this habit if left uncurbed is to a large extent, responsible for creating onerous debt burdens in which our near and dear ones may well end up getting stuck in a terrible manner. The consequences may be dire indeed, ranging from insolvency all the way to jail time in extreme cases.
But the question is what to do in a situation when a loved one is on the verge of declaring bankruptcy and losing all of his or her property?
We have a choice, we can go ahead and blame them for it and thus effectively make a bad situation worse. Or alternately we may be more understanding and caring and so help them pass though this tough time with their self esteem intact.
Once we decide to take the later alternative, then mere words of commiseration and endearment may not be enough, rather we need to be more proactive to not only help extract them from this horrible predicament but we also need to make sure that it does not happen again. There are certain steps we can potentially take to help ease their debt burden as a whole.
Seek out reputable credit counsellors
This is by far and wide the most important thing we can do. Many agencies though out the western world offer credit counselling to people in chronic debt. Some of them are non profit organizations while others charge for their services.
Make sure that your loved one finds a well reputed credit counsellor who would help him decrease his debt burden rather than dump additional charges on him in the guise of helping him. Of course you can counsel him yourself, but a professional counsellor would do a better job and moreover he or she might be more prone to following a professional’s expert advice.
A reputable agency would go a long way to ensure that your loved one is well taken care of as regards his financial problems. It would help if you were to ask around from friends and family as to who the best service providers are. Once you have convinced him to seek such help, you have to make sure that he keeps all his appointments with the agency and also follows their budgetary prescriptions to the latter.
Ultimately, you have to be firm
Ultimately, you have to make him understand that the only person who can control his financial habits is the person he sees in the mirror every single day.
If your loved one does not refrain from spending more than he earns, in the long run he has only himself to blame for his financial woes and ultimately he will be left alone to handle his own problems since an agency can only advise not enforce its recommendations.
by admin | Credit Counseling, Uncategorized
Credit counseling, also referred to colloquially as ‘Debt counseling’, is a form of financial counseling that typically helps indebted people handle and deal with their financial issues. It also refers to counseling for people who require financial loans and assistance but are not sure if they are eligible for it and if they are, then how to go about acquiring the same.
For many people, organizations providing credit counseling are their last lifeline and may well save them from absolute insolvency, economic failure.
Credit counseling works to educate individuals by empowering them though various tools, such as budgeting and education, so as to help them get rid of their debt burdens.
As a general rule, such counseling is undertaken by “credit counseling agencies’ that have been hired by the indebted parties to commence and eventually successfully close negotiations with the creditors on behalf of the financially solvent party. These credit counseling agencies ensure that their clients are not proclaimed defaulters due to their absolute inability to meet the minimum payments of the amounts they owe to their creditors.
Such agencies have been contracted by the indebted parties to work for them and look after their interests and so help relieve them of the clutches of the ‘debt traps’ they may find themselves in.
These agencies may be broadly defined into two different types.
Non Profit Organizations or NPOs
These organizations do not levy any service charges on their client (the debtors) nor do they require any fees for their assistance. Most of the time they get funded by the creditors.
Commercial Credit Counseling Agencies
They are employed to work on behalf of the indebted party for a pre-determined financial remuneration. They charge a fees and represent their client 100%
