Posts Tagged ‘credit’

A San Diego has been accused of “skimming” personal identifying information (PII) from bank customers’ ATM cards.  According to authorities, a skimmer was placed on a bank door and allowed an identity thief to take thousands of ATM users’ personal identifying numbers (PINs).  The alleged identity thief, Daniel Axinte, was charged with over 40 counts [...]

What is a skimmer?  Skimming devices are used by identity thieves to steal credit or debit card personal identifying information (PII).  Identity theft from skimmers is becoming a major problem for consumers.  Skimmers can be installed easily and quickly on ATM machines.  Handheld skimmers can also be used to record restaurant patrons’ credit or debit [...]

Consumers have the right to request (for a fee) their credit score from the three nationwide consumer reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian and Trans Union.  Is the credit score consumers receives the same score provided to lenders?  No, according to a recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) report. In its July 20, 2011 report, the CFPB [...]

Teletrack, Inc. has agreed to pay $1.8 million to settle Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) charges that it violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).  The FTC  alleged Teletrack sold consumers’ credit reports to marketers without a permissible purpose. According to the FTC complaint, Teletrack sold consumer credit reports to payday lenders, rental stores, and sub-prime [...]

According to Stacy Graning at the Troy Messenger, Ramona Watson, the former executive director of the Child Advocacy Center was arrested this past week on two felony counts of identity theft.  Watson was being held in the Pike County Jail on $5,000 bond.  Watson resigned from the Advocacy Center on May 13. Court documents demonstrate [...]

Have you discovered an error on your credit card statement?  Common errors include duplicate charges for the same product or charges for a product you never received or returned to the merchant. How do you dispute these types of credit card billing errors? Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, consumers have the right to dispute [...]

Sony has agreed to extend its offer for free credit monitoring to July 31, 2011.  Originally, Sony’s offer of free credit monitoring with All Clear ID Plus was available for its customers until June 18.  The credit monitoring is being offered to members of the Play Station Network (PSN) prior to the April data breach.   The credit monitoring [...]

Consumers receive breach notification letters (and e-mails) all the time, but do you know what you should do if you receive a breach notification? Chances are, if you live in one of the 46 states with a breach notification law, you have received a notice that your personal identifying information may have been lost or [...]

A Lexington, Kentucky Italian restaurant, Smashing Tomato, has announced that it has suffered a data breach.  The Smashing Tomato’s customers are complaining of unauthorized charges on their credit and debit cards as far away as Texas and Ohio.  The restaurant learned of the data breach after being contacted by the US Secret Service. The restaurant’s [...]

The Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Reserve Board have finalized changes to the proposed Risk Based Pricing Rule.  The Final Rule requires creditors to provide consumers with their credit score when the consumer’s credit score is used to determine credit terms. What is risk based pricing?  Risk based pricing is “the practice of setting [...]