Credit card breach: Tracing who dunnit - Jun. 29, 2005

CNN - It's hard to catch a thief when you can't even pinpoint his general location on the globe.
Doesn't that give you a warm confident feeling that your information is secure and safe? If you can't find the guy, you're not going to find the data, and... you're not going to stop the problem. Better yet, because of the nature of the internet and data, this information could easily be posted to millions of places all over the world! That scares me to death. The internet is a pretty nasty place to look for stuff, if you're searching for data records.


Credit card breach: Tracing who dunnit - Jun. 29, 2005: "It's hard to catch a thief when you can't even pinpoint his general location on the globe. "

Interest Rates are going to rise

Interest Rates are going UP folks. It's even more timely to get all your credit in order.!

Finance - canada.com network

Experian National Score � Free Experian Credit Report & PLUS Credit Score

This is a very interesting site if you're into this credit and credit repair business. This particular site is mostly for the U.S. population.

It's interesting that in some states the average U.S. credit score is only 677 per Experian. New England has a nice average at 699 average score.

Experian National Score � Free Experian Credit Report & PLUS Credit Score

Breach affects 40M Visa MasterCard credit cards - June. 20, 2005

As was pointed out by Budgeting Babe's blog
Breach affects 40M credit cards - Jun. 20, 2005

Along with this being terrible breach of security, it's also going to drive up costs. This is because the administration costs for the credit card companies is going to rise. Everytime there is a theft, they have to notify all of their customers and then get tons of man power to fix the problem.

The scope of this breach is huge. Hypothetically, if the hacker was able to use some of this credit card info to charge credit cards, this money would have to be absorbed by the credit card companies and then the cost is transferred back to customer.

Usually the credit card companies charge much higher interest rates to offset the higher risk attributed to the credit cards being unsecured. This is based on the behaviour of the the customers. Now, with this new theft of credit card info, the credit card companies are taking on even more risk, and probably feel even more justified to charge higher interest rates to pay for the problem.

CNN- "The breach reported by MasterCard on Friday is one in a long line of breaches reported this year by consumer data aggregators like ChoicePoint, retailers such as DSW and corporations such as Time Warner (up $0.35 to $17.13, Research), parent company of CNN/Money.com.

Rather than a rash of illicit activity, experts say, the slew of reports may have more to do with companies wishing to protect themselves in the wake of a California state law requiring businesses to notify its customers when their personal information has been exposed in a security breach. "

On2 Money / A History of Money

History of Money.
This is interesting as it gives a small summary of people trading value for value. Only around 1000BC did people start using metal coins for trade.

Prior to that they traded shells and furs and what ever else they could. Money is value.

Spending money is trading one valuable item for another valuable item.
On2 Money / A History of Money

Financial and Money Maturity

My new blog related to financial maturity for people and families.
It's part of bringing different thoughts together on how to plan for and manage money through out your life.

I hope you enjoy the discussion that we'll bring.
Credit repair is a small portion of the overall discussion of money.
Financial and Money Maturity

Lists for credit repair

Fax lists, mailing lists, data lead sources

Citigroup Data of 3.9M Customers Is Lost

This identity theft seems to be more common than they're letting on.
600,000 more records were stolen or lost last month.

OUCH!!

Last month, media and entertainment company Time Warner Inc. said that computer backup tapes containing data on 600,000 individuals were lost by an outside data storage firm.

Citigroup Data of 3.9M Customers Is Lost: "Last month, media and entertainment company Time Warner Inc. said that computer backup tapes containing data on 600,000 individuals were lost by an outside data storage firm."

2005 Credit Suit

More action about the Citigroup loss of 3.9 million records issue.

2005 Credit Suit

Debt
Settlement
Credit Repair

Steps people can take if their information is lost - May. 9, 2005

Read this article...
People need to be more aware and familiar how to deal with personal info theft.
The 3.9 million records stolen in the U.S. represents over 1% of the population's information stolen at one time.

That's a huge theft.

Steps employees can take if their information is lost - May. 9, 2005

MSN Money - 8 steps to take before bankruptcy

I like this article. First off, it tells people that they need to make a plan. With the new laws coming into place in October, they need to make up their minds what they're going to do regarding their credit.

People need to realize that with a solid plan they can get out of debt or fix their credit.
The worst thing you can do is not spend the time planning.

Visiting with a client today, he was beating his head against the wall. Doing thing after thing wrong and not knowing that he was harming his own credit. After spending an hour with him, I was able to show him a solid plan to reestablish his credit.

So... heading for bankruptcy, or just bad credit, you need to plan and then make up your mind what you need to do regarding your credit future.

This is an interesting article
MSN Money - 8 steps to take before bankruptcy

<Debt Settlement Attorney

Citigroup division tells 3.9M customers personal info lost - Jun. 6, 2005

This is incredible... This might mean tons of identity fraud for almost 4 million people.

These tapes were on the way to the credit bureau. This is incredible!!
This could cost people and the credit bureaus millions of dollars in time.

Now all of citigroups customers are going to have to verify if their information is actually secure.
Citigroup is going to have to audit the list to find out who was on the list that was stolen and then notify all of the customers.

This might be unprecedented. All because of the computer age. This couldn't possibly happen 30 years ago. Wow!!
Citigroup division tells 3.9M customers personal info lost - Jun. 6, 2005

Equifax and TransUnion

Equifax and TransUnion in Canada are still giving me problems.
They are refusing to deal with a third party credit repair company even though I have a valid, legal limited power of attorney signed by my clients.

This is pretty frustrating. There is NOT MUCH legal precedence set for credit repair in Canada.

Monty Loree - President
Express Credit Repair
www.express-credit-repair.com
www.express-debt-solutions.com

NEEDED: Canadian lawyers who want to help with credit repair!

We are actively seeking Canadian lawyers who want to help out with credit
repair in Canada.
We need to start litigation against Equifax TransUnion and companies who
report to them.

As well, we need to start litigation against some government bodies.

The market is untapped once we get some legal precedence set.

Interested in making a difference in the credit reporting industry in Canada
Please contact Monty Loree
306-546-7426

Corey Rudl - Internet Marketing giant Killed In Crash At California Speedway

It's terrible to see pioneers go.

Corey Rudl Killed in a car crash.! That's tragic!

NBC 4 - News - Two Killed In Crash At California Speedway

Lowest Mortgage

We're looking for places with the Lowest Mortgage Interest rates

What people need to realize is that interest are based on supply and demand. It's really important to find the creditor with the best SUPPLY and who wants the deal the most. If a creditor has excess money to lend, they're going to be much more aggressive with the interest rates they offer.

Ask the branch manager or mortgage broker who has the greatest source of "lending money" available.

Credit Reports U.S.

We're setting up a spot where people from the U.S. can order their credit reports on our website. That should be good and convenient.

The Americans are alot more familiar with ordering their credit reports online than Canadians.



Express Money is our new site about all things related to money.

Debt Settlement in United States and Canada

This is an interesting article about reducing debt.

"McAuliffe is concerned about the amount of debt families are carrying. "At an average interest rate of 18 percent, it can take more than 30 years to pay down a $9,000 balance by making just the minimum payments, and cost two and a half times the balance in interest," he says. "

In some cases debt = slavery. Keep asking yourself if you really need that item before you buy it.

Have you ordered your credit reports lately?
Info about credit reports

I think people should spend a good solid month studying their credit situation. Reading contracts until you understand what you've agreed to.. As well... you need to order your credit reports and see them as well. Understand what is being said about you by the credit bureaus.

Make this "STUDYING MY CREDIT MONTH" month.


Debt Settlement in United States and Canada