- 40 Million Credit Cards Exposed
Payment processor blamed in mishap
By Bob Sullivan
Technology correspondent
MSNBC
Updated: 6:34 p.m. ET June 17
An "unauthorized individual" infiltrated the computer network of a third-party payment processor and may have stolen some 40 million credit card numbers, MasterCard International revealed Friday. All brands of credit cards were exposed in the attack; about 14 million of the 40 million were MasterCards.
Full text of the story is >HERE
This is another example of why Credit Monitoring is so important. If these stolen credit card numbers get used, you could have thousands of dollars charged to your account before you find out.
Check Your Credit Report & Credit Score For FREE
With Free One Month Trial Of Our Credit Monitoring Service - CLICK HERE
- Authorities Investigating 'Pluto' Credit Card Charges
Credit Card Companies Aware Of Mystery Company's Charges
POSTED: 3:45 pm EST March 23
Has Pluto charged your credit card without you knowing?
Credit card customers nationwide caught a charge from a company they have never heard of, and authorities have opened an investigation into the charges, WVIT-TV in Hartford, Conn., reported.
Full text of the story is HERE
- Bank Of America Looses 1.2 Millian Account Records
Financial data lost by Bank of America
Error affects 1.2m accounts of federal workers
By Sasha Talcott, Globe Staff | February 26
Bank of America Corp. has lost tapes containing personal financial information for 1.2 million accounts of federal employees, including US senators and members of the Defense Department.
The tapes contained personal information, including Social Security numbers, addresses, and account numbers for employees in several government agencies. The lost information, which the bank was transporting to a backup data center, could make those customers vulnerable to identity theft.
Things like these happen all the time and this a the reason why you need to check your credit report and have a good credit monitoring service to keep you informed. All it takes is one criminal to get your Social Security number and it is off to the races with your financial data. Recovering from identity theft will cost you time, money and frustration.
Check Your Credit Report FREE With Free One Month Trial Of Our Credit Monitoring Service - CLICK HERE
There are many scams running via mail, phone and e-mail which are attempting to steal your financial data and can result in identity theft.
Here is a link to a great site that lists current credit scams. http://www.idtheftcenter.org/alerts.shtml
Here are some of the current scams that Idtheftcenter.org details for you on the site:
- Special VISA/Mastercard Scam Alert
- Account verification or "phisher" scams
- Sign-in Rosters
- "Help move money from my country"
- Canadian/Netherlands Lottery
- Many more...go to the site to read details and find out what you should do if you get any of these scams.
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What is a credit score? How is it used and do you need to see what your credit score is?
We went to Money.HowStuffWorks.com and in an article by Lee Ann Obringer, we learn that:
"A credit score is a number that is calculated based on your credit history to give lenders a simpler "lend/don't lend" answer for people who are applying for credit or loans. This number helps the lender identify the level of risk they may be taking if they lend to someone. While the same end result can come through reviewing the actual credit report (which lenders usually do), the credit score is quicker and less subjective. The system awards points based on information in the credit report, and the resulting score is compared to that of other consumers with similar profiles. With this information, lenders can predict how likely someone is to repay a loan and make payments on time. It's the credit score that makes it possible to get instant credit at places like electronics stores and department stores." Read the full text of the article here
About Credit Score Algorithms
Algorithms are known as one of the best
processes to count credit scores, and different
top ranking credit score companies use
different methods to have their credit scores done,
FICO is the best well known scoring method.
BEACON score is being used by Equifax,and
Experian has the Experian/Fair Isaac Risk Model and
Trans Union mostly uses EMPIRICA score, it is also in
different algorithm form.
It works like a school progress report
chart where different percentages are given for fixed
categories of work you have done, your score will count
your standard with the total percentages you
received.
Approximately 35% is counted according to the payment
procedure you have paid back to the bankers, they
would see the time, date, how many was left out
of collections and how many late payments were done.
The next 30% goes for the debt, that is how much you owe
to them, that it how much debt you have for car and
home, your score will be less if you have more cards.
This time factor deals with only 15%, another 10%
deals with your applications and information about
your other credit cards, why you have applied, and how
many credit cards you have now. Last but not the least percentage deals
with all the recent credit you are dealing with.
Your credit score (sometimes called FICO) is an important number to know along with a full credit report. Consumer Info (An Experian company) who runs FreeCreditReport.com provides a credit score for FREE with their free credit report when you sign up for a trial membership to their great credit monitoring service. You will be billed a small monthly fee for the service but you can cancel at anytime and still keep the free credit report. The monitoring service is a good value if you decide to keep it and you can pull unlimited credit reports throughout the year and you receive monitoring alerts to help fight identity theft.
You Can Now Add A Credit Score
To Your FREE CREDIT REPORT For FREE! - CLICK HERE
By Bob Sullivan
Technology correspondent
MSNBC
Updated: 6:34 p.m. ET June 17
An "unauthorized individual" infiltrated the computer network of a third-party payment processor and may have stolen some 40 million credit card numbers, MasterCard International revealed Friday. All brands of credit cards were exposed in the attack; about 14 million of the 40 million were MasterCards.
Full text of the story is >HERE
This is another example of why Credit Monitoring is so important. If these stolen credit card numbers get used, you could have thousands of dollars charged to your account before you find out.
Check Your Credit Report & Credit Score For FREE
POSTED: 3:45 pm EST March 23
Has Pluto charged your credit card without you knowing?
Credit card customers nationwide caught a charge from a company they have never heard of, and authorities have opened an investigation into the charges, WVIT-TV in Hartford, Conn., reported.
Full text of the story is HERE
Financial data lost by Bank of America
Bank of America Corp. has lost tapes containing personal financial information for 1.2 million accounts of federal employees, including US senators and members of the Defense Department.
The tapes contained personal information, including Social Security numbers, addresses, and account numbers for employees in several government agencies. The lost information, which the bank was transporting to a backup data center, could make those customers vulnerable to identity theft.
Check Your Credit Report FREE With Free One Month Trial Of Our Credit Monitoring Service - CLICK HERE
Here are some of the current scams that Idtheftcenter.org details for you on the site:
With Free One Month Trial Of Our Credit Monitoring Service - CLICK HERE
Error affects 1.2m accounts of federal workers
By Sasha Talcott, Globe Staff | February 26
Things like these happen all the time and this a the reason why you need to check your credit report and have a good credit monitoring service to keep you informed. All it takes is one criminal to get your Social Security number and it is off to the races with your financial data. Recovering from identity theft will cost you time, money and frustration.
There are many scams running via mail, phone and e-mail which are attempting to steal your financial data and can result in identity theft.
Here is a link to a great site that lists current credit scams. http://www.idtheftcenter.org/alerts.shtml
What is a credit score? How is it used and do you need to see what your credit score is?
We went to Money.HowStuffWorks.com and in an article by Lee Ann Obringer, we learn that:
"A credit score is a number that is calculated based on your credit history to give lenders a simpler "lend/don't lend" answer for people who are applying for credit or loans. This number helps the lender identify the level of risk they may be taking if they lend to someone. While the same end result can come through reviewing the actual credit report (which lenders usually do), the credit score is quicker and less subjective. The system awards points based on information in the credit report, and the resulting score is compared to that of other consumers with similar profiles. With this information, lenders can predict how likely someone is to repay a loan and make payments on time. It's the credit score that makes it possible to get instant credit at places like electronics stores and department stores." Read the full text of the article here
About Credit Score Algorithms
Algorithms are known as one of the best
processes to count credit scores, and different
top ranking credit score companies use
different methods to have their credit scores done,
FICO is the best well known scoring method.
BEACON score is being used by Equifax,and
Experian has the Experian/Fair Isaac Risk Model and
Trans Union mostly uses EMPIRICA score, it is also in
different algorithm form.
It works like a school progress report
chart where different percentages are given for fixed
categories of work you have done, your score will count
your standard with the total percentages you
received.
Approximately 35% is counted according to the payment
procedure you have paid back to the bankers, they
would see the time, date, how many was left out
of collections and how many late payments were done.
The next 30% goes for the debt, that is how much you owe
to them, that it how much debt you have for car and
home, your score will be less if you have more cards.
This time factor deals with only 15%, another 10%
deals with your applications and information about
your other credit cards, why you have applied, and how
many credit cards you have now. Last but not the least percentage deals
with all the recent credit you are dealing with.
Your credit score (sometimes called FICO) is an important number to know along with a full credit report. Consumer Info (An Experian company) who runs FreeCreditReport.com provides a credit score for FREE with their free credit report when you sign up for a trial membership to their great credit monitoring service. You will be billed a small monthly fee for the service but you can cancel at anytime and still keep the free credit report. The monitoring service is a good value if you decide to keep it and you can pull unlimited credit reports throughout the year and you receive monitoring alerts to help fight identity theft.
To Your FREE CREDIT REPORT For FREE! - CLICK HERE