How to avoid Telemarketing Fraud
Are you a victim of crime of persuasions, schemes, scams and frauds — Telemarketing fraud?
What is Telemarketing Fraud? Telemarketing fraud is defined simply by the principle medium of contact used to perpetrate the fraud. Legitimate businesses use the same “tools” to sell their products, so consumers need to know the warning signs associated with telemarketing fraud. They should not be, but are often confused with legitimate telemarketing operations. At present, The Federal Trade Commission estimates that there are more than of 14,000 fraudulent telemarketing businesses operate in North America alone.
Operations may consist of a single individual in a makeshift and portable office facility set up with a bank of phones. There are two kinds of calls namely:
- Outbound calls. When calls have not been preceded with promotional materials but are made from lists of leads or at random.
- Inbound calls. If consumers are encouraged or induced to call a number on their own.
A number of these operations take extraordinary measures to increase the difficulty of successful investigation and prosecution. These measures include
- Using cell phones. It is sometimes in conjunction with prepaid “calling cards”, which can be discarded after several weeks of intensive use.
- Using stolen identity cards. These stolen cards are being used to open mail drops for receipt of payments that victims mail to them
- Using multiple mail drops. Shuttle victim-related mail through multiple destinations
- Impersonation of FBI and Customs agents or RCMP officers. To make victims believe that law enforcement is already aware of their losses
- Contracting with other telemarketing “boiler rooms”. Are small sales offices that can spring up and close down overnight. The only desk furniture is a telephone
- Laundering. Laundering of fraud proceeds through foreign bank accounts.
Targets tend to be poor, often elderly people and those with a lot of debt and little chance of obtaining credit. Their names may appear on “sucker” lists. These are people with bad credit and heavy debts — lured by the promise of a new card. Companies buy and sell these names.
Detailed below are how to avoid becoming a victim of telemarketing fraud:
- Ask for written information. Salespeople may not explain the complete details of the product and the cost. Legitimate companies will send you the details upfront and never insist that you act immediately.
- Don’t give your credit card or bank account information. There is no reason why the company would need that information for any other purpose.
- Watch out for imposters. Crooks may pretend to be calling on behalf of well-known company or government agency and request payment for product or services rendered, when they have absolutely no connection with them at all and will simply pocket your money.
- Add your phone number to the National Do Not Call Registry. This will reduce the chance that you will be contacted again as your name is sold to other scam artists.
Unwanted telemarketing calls are often triggered by responding to unwanted paper junk mail. Reduce unwanted junk mail that lead to a number of unwanted telemarketing calls. If you will pay your credit card, do not pay for that item on your credit card bill until you’ve received, examined and are satisfied with your product or price.
Remember that unsolicited telemarketing sales are not final until you have received written confirmation of the sale and you have three days after you receive your written confirmation to cancel an unsolicited telemarketing sale. The good news is, you may be able to undo the damage. Beware!
Hello Wallet Phones, Goodbye Plastic Cards
Credit Cards and Smart Cards and their plastic presence seem to be on their way out, overtaken by virtual-wallet technology available in Mobile Phone.
I believe that mobile phone is the gadget of choice for today’s modern man. Most people never leave home without their mobile phone. It can replace your wallet and what you carry in it: cash keys, access cards, photos, drivers license and even company IDs. Mobile phone has captured the wallets of millions of people all over the world.
My Panasonic P506iC wallet phone has it all. And what am I without it? It contains my credit cards, entrance ticket, train tickets, air tickets, employee ID card, and most other stuff I carry in my bag. It includes my digital cameras, portable TVs, e-mail and streaming video downloads. I can perform electronic banking transactions with my mobile phone. My P506iC wallet phone can be used off-line or even when it is out of range of radio waves. The JAVA application in my phone can check the electronic cash balance or show my transaction record.
Money is stored on the phone is like a virtual wad of cash. All I have to do to make payments with my wallet phone is to swipe the handset next to a special terminal set up at stores. It need not even be opened when making the payment. I simply wave it at the corresponding display devices in vending machines, stores and restaurants. A tinkling sound means the purchase has been successfully debited. It’s fun to pay things this way!
Income after retirement for today’s seniors
Retired? Or are you planning for retirement. Is there life after retirement? Or income that is after retirement? Let’s face it, the trauma of a retiree is the loss of regular income. Luckily, this can be planned for, with less pain, if one starts early enough. When a former baby boomer reached his retirement age reality takes over. It’s like launching your second life. Designing your life with financial affluence. This includes the planning tools, tips and advice for enjoying life after retirement. Here are the several ways to stay active and make money after retiring for today’s seniors.
- Plan. Retirees typically need at least 70 to 80 percent of their pre-retirement income. Be sure you are on track for a secure retirement. Perhaps you can also look at a Pension Plan to augment your income in the future.
- Make your money last. Be sure to outlive your money. Your money must last as long as you do. Save enough, invest wisely and have a pension life that pays for life.
- Consider working. Older people decide to continue working in some way after retirement. Many continue working because they like their work and enjoy being productive when the real and major reason is financial need.
- Give gift, why not? Gifts help you reduce your taxable estate to a level that is free of federal estate taxes. They don’t have to be related to you. Give away as much as $12,000 to anyone without paying taxes. The gifts are nontaxable. However, don’t give away this money if it will leave you short of funds.
- Homemade money. Your financial needs after retirement can be augmented by your home. The equity in your home can be a source of cash in retirement. And because you don’t want to lose your home in the process, be cautious about it. Borrowing against your home’s value has several advantages:
o Tax deductible. The interest you pay to your loan is tax deductible. Ask your tax advisor.
o Benefit from low interest rate. Interest on loan secured by your home is typically lower than other types of loans.
o Manageable risk. Use the loans instead of cashing in stocks or withdrawing from an IRA prematurely. Remember, both are taxable.
- Social Security. The largest source of income — Social Security provides a strong base for retirement security.
There is no clear cut answer or choice on the best course of action. It makes sense to take less investment risks when you reach retirement. Why not go too far, investing is not really money—but your health — worth its weight in gold.
Check Fraud Happens
Will you allow yourself to be a victim of a Check Fraud? Want to lose your hard earned money to criminals? If your answer is yes, stop reading here.
Criminals today can defraud you quite easily with a blank check taken from your check book, a canceled check found in your garbage, or a check you mailed to pay a bill.
Fraud professionals have become increasingly skilled and sophisticated. Technology has made it increasingly easy to criminals. Readily available technology like a personal computers, scanners and color photocopiers can be used by criminals to defraud you. To avoid if not eliminate Check fraud is one of the largest challenges facing account holders and financial institutions as well.
Fraud schemes involving checks take many forms, checks may be:
- Altered, either as to the payee or the amount. This fraud occurs after a legitimate maker creates a valid check to pay a debt. A criminal then takes the good check and uses chemicals or other means to erase the amount or the name of the payee, so that new information can be entered. The new information can be added by typewriter, in handwriting, or with a laser printer or check imprinter.
2. Counterfeited. Checks are presented based on fraudulent identification or are false checks drawn on valid accounts.
3. Forged, either as to signature or endorsement.
4. Drawn on closed accounts.
5. Used in a variety of schemes. Example of this is the Telemarketing fraud, wherein it appears that the account holder has given permission to have money withdrawn from his or her checking account to pay bills for goods and services.
Preventing or avoiding such Check Fraud is not only the responsibility of the account holder alone but also by the bank as well. A combination of precautions that an account holder might undertake could greatly reduce the likelihood of check fraud. A simple negligence or carelessness in handling of personal checks may lead these criminals to copy, steal, alter and forge checks.
It is important to follow a common-sense, logical approach with the way you use and store your checks. Store your checks and canceled checks in a secure and locked location. It is suggested that a reconciliation of bank statement shall be made within thirty (30) days of receipt in order to detect any irregularities. Be aware of unsolicited phone sales and never give your account number to people you do not know. Destroy old canceled checks and account statement, unless needed for tax purposes. Account all check orders and issuance and report missing checks to your bank at once. The longer it takes to detect any of your checks have been taken, the more time the criminal has to use them successfully.
If you cannot eliminate Check Fraud, you can prevent or reduce it by being cautious and being well informed. Make check fraud difficult by complicating the criminal’s task.
For additional information or comment, please visit my site. Welcome!
Debtors Use Bankruptcy To Keep Homes!
A family friend saved his home by Chapter 13 bankruptcy? Does it mean not paying your debt and keep your home? Read this… By filing under this chapter, individuals can stop foreclosure proceedings and may cure delinquent mortgage payments over time. Nevertheless, they must still make all mortgage payments that come due during the chapter 13 plan on time. Another advantage of chapter 13 is that it allows individuals to reschedule secured debts (other than a mortgage for their primary residence) and extend them over the life of the chapter 13 plan. Doing this may lower the payments. Chapter 13 also has a special provision that protects third parties who are liable with the debtor on “consumer debts.”
Chapter 13 Filings Gain In Popularity Because They Halt Foreclosures
With loan defaults rising along with many mortgage payments, fast-growing numbers of homeowners are gambling on bankruptcy filings to try to stay in their homes.
Last month, as the nation’s housing slump continued, consumer bankruptcy filings increased almost 23% from a year earlier — representing nearly 69,000 people — according to the American Bankruptcy Institute, a nonprofit research group whose members include bankruptcy attorneys, judges and lenders. Overall, consumer bankruptcy filings were up 44.76% during the first nine months of this year.
The surge in filings hasn’t caught up with the flood of bankruptcy cases consumers launched in 2005, as they raced to beat a change in federal law that made it harder for individuals to declare bankruptcy. Even so, it shows the rising sense of insecurity many Americans feel as housing values fall, lending standards get tighter and hundreds of thousands of mortgages with low introductory interest rates “reset” to higher rates, boosting the homeowner’s monthly payments.
Most consumers filing for bankruptcy continue to do so under Chapter 7 of the federal Bankruptcy Code. Under that provision, a person must forfeit certain assets — including, in some cases, a portion of home equity. Those assets are sold to pay off debts.
While Chapter 7 filings stop foreclosure proceedings, the break is usually only temporary. As a practical matter, many homeowners who file under Chapter 7 lose their homes.
In recent months, however, an increasing number of homeowners have filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 13, which staves off foreclosure proceedings while the homeowner works out a plan to pay off mortgage debt and other obligations over time — usually three to five years. To qualify, debtors must have a regular income and must stay current on their new bills. (Amy Merrick, The Wall Street Journal, 23 October 2007)
Do you have a financial setback? Want to save your home? Want an advice? Visit my site, I’m not an expert but surely I can help, anyway it’s free!
