Posted on July 2nd, 2008 by Sonya Smith-Valentine, Valentine Legal Group
Hackers broke into Citibank’s ATMs inside 7-Eleven stores earlier this year and stole customers’ PIN codes. The hackers netted millions of dollars. The thieves were able to access the PIN numbers by attacking the back-end computers responsible for approving the cash withdrawals. Hackers are targeting the ATM system’s infrastructure, which often uses Microsoft’s Windows operating system. It’s unclear how many Citibank customers were affected by the breach, which extended at least from October 2007 to March of this year. Citibank has nearly 5,700 ATMs inside 7-Eleven stores.
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Filed under: Banking, Consumer Protection
Posted on July 1st, 2008 by Sonya Smith-Valentine, Valentine Legal Group
In addition to the big 3 credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax & Trans Union), there exist some small credit bureaus. You should check your credit reports with the smaller credit bureaus as well as with the big 3. Innovis is an example of one of the smaller credit bureaus. You can request your Innovis credit report by writing to: Innovis, Attn: Customre Assistance, P.O. Box 1358, Columbus, Ohio 43216. Include your name, social security number, date of birth, proof of address (like a utility bill), and a copy of your driver’s license or other government issued ID card.
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Filed under: Credit Reports
Posted on June 4th, 2008 by Sonya Smith-Valentine, Valentine Legal Group
Fair Isaac, the developer of the FICO credit score, has made some changes to the way your FICO credit score is calculated. Here are some of the changes: If you are an authorized user on someone else’s credit card, you will no longer benefit from the credit rating associated with that credit card. You’ll now need to become an actual supplemental card holder to get any credit scoring benefit. Also, one late payment won’t kill your credit score anymore. Your score used to drop 100 points if you paid one item late. Now the drop won’t be as punitive. However, if you have a trend of paying late, you will be hit even harder than before. Additionally, applications for new credit won’t hurt your score as much as before. On the other hand, your credit score will be more sensitive to the balances you carry. Also, active use of your credit card now matters. If you have a credit card that you haven’t used in awhile, it will weigh less in your credit score than before. Fair Isaac made these changes to the FICO scoring system for lenders as the credit industry complained about some aspects of the old scoring model.
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Filed under: Credit Reports
Posted on May 5th, 2008 by Sonya Smith-Valentine, Valentine Legal Group
Many companies that solicit new credit card accounts use prescreening to identify potential customers. Prescreened offers are based upon information in your credit report that indicates you meet the criteria set by the credit card company. There will be inquiries on your credit report showing which companies obtained your information for prescreened offers but these inquiries do not affect your credit score. You can opt out of receiving prescreened credit offers for either 5 years or permanently. Visit www.optoutprescreen.comfor details. The website is operated by the credit bureaus. Requests to opt out are processed within 5 days but it may take up to 60 days before you stop receiving prescreened offers.
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Filed under: Credit Cards, Credit Reports
Posted on April 25th, 2008 by Sonya Smith-Valentine, Valentine Legal Group
The scam: You’ve been told that you’ve been “pre-qualified” to get a low interest loan or credit card but the company needs you to pay a processing fee of several hundred dollars. The truth: Legitimate lenders never “guarantee” a credit card or loan before you apply. A legitimate pre-qualified offer means that you’ve been selected to apply. You still have to complete an application and you can still be turned down. Also, legitimate lenders don’t charge several hundred dollars in processing fees.
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Filed under: Credit Cards
Posted on April 6th, 2008 by Sonya Smith-Valentine, Valentine Legal Group
If you don’t intend to dispute the parking ticket you received, cough up the money and pay it timely. Tardiness is costly. Many states add hefty late fees to parking tickets that are not paid on time. Some states will tow your car and other states will withhold your state tax refund. Some jurisdictions send unpaid parking tickets to collection agencies and also report to the credit bureaus. So if you aren’t contesting the ticket, just pay it.
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Filed under: Credit Reports, Debt Collection
Posted on March 21st, 2008 by Sonya Smith-Valentine, Valentine Legal Group
Shopping around for a credit card can save you money on interest and fees. You’ll want to find a credit card with features that matches your needs. In choosing a credit card, you should think about how you will use the card. If you expect to pay your bill in full each month, your best choice would be a card that has no annual fee and offers a longer grace period. If you sometimes carry a balance from month to month, you should look for a card that carries a lower interest rate. If you expect to use your card to get cash advances, you’ll do better with a card that carries a lower interest rate and lower fees on cash advances. Some cards, however, charge a higher interest rate on cash advances as compared to purchases.
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Filed under: Credit Cards
Posted on March 16th, 2008 by Sonya Smith-Valentine, Valentine Legal Group
A security freeze locks access to a consumer’s credit report and credit score. This helps to prevent a thief from using your personal information to obtain credit. If a consumer wants to apply for credit, they use a PIN number to unlock access to their credit report. Victims of identify theft can place a freeze on their credit report for free. If you have not been a victim of identify theft, the credit bureaus charge a fee for placing a credit freeze on your credit report. The cost varies by state. You won’t be able to open new credit while a freeze is in place. However, you can request that a freeze be temporarily lifted for this purpose. There may be a charge for removing a freeze. It does no good to freeze only one or two credit reports. If you want real identity theft protection, you’ll have to go through the requirements to freeze all three credit agencies.
Send a request for a security freeze to the three major credit reporting agencies. Your request must be sent by certified mail and must include a copy of your identification. Send your freeze request to the following addresses:
Equifax Security Freeze
P.O. Box 105788
Atlanta, GA 30348
Experian Security Freeze
P.O. Box 9554
Allen, TX 75013
Trans Union Security Freeze
P.O. Box 6790
Fullerton, CA 92834-6790
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Filed under: Credit Reports, Identity Theft
Posted on March 16th, 2008 by Sonya Smith-Valentine, Valentine Legal Group
Credit card companies have been adding universal default clauses to the terms of credit card agreements. This will be very detrimental for consumers who are late on even just one payment with a different credit card or loan. The universal default clause allows credit card companies to pull your credit report on a regular basis. If you have been late on any payments (even to a different company), a higher interest rate can be applied to your credit card. This includes any late payments on your mortgage, car, or utility bill if it is reported on your credit report. This could not only increase the interest rate on future purchases, but also raise the interest rate on the consumer’s entire outstanding balance. For example: if you are late even just once on your car payment, your credit card interest rate could jump from 8% to 29% instantly.
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Filed under: Credit Reports
Posted on March 10th, 2008 by Sonya Smith-Valentine, Valentine Legal Group
According to a government report, banks are not providing consumers with information about account fees even though required by federal law. The report says that fees have been on the rise in recent years. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) made undercover visits to 185 bank branches and could not get a comprehensive list of account fees at more than one-fifth of the branches. At one-third of the branches, the GAO employees could not get account terms, like how overdrafts are handled. Federal law requires disclosure of fees and interest rates. The GAO report recommends that the five federal banking regulators incorporate ways to ensure that account fees and other information are available to consumers before opening an account.
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Filed under: Banking