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Credit Cards

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How To Protect Your Financial Information From Credit Card Hacks

TargetBy now many of you I’m sure have heard about the breach of credit card information by hackers who infiltrated the information data-bases of Target and Neiman Marcus (or Needless Markup as my wife likes to call them) and may be wondering just how to protect your financial information.

What is interesting about these data thefts is not so much that yet another one or two occurred but that these types of information breaches are happening regularly and many times the companies either don’t tell us about them or wait until a better time to tell us so we don’t stop shopping at a their stores.

For example, Stacey Vanek Smith of Market Place Business reported that Neiman Marcus knew about the data breach in mid-December but only announced it after the Holiday shopping season was over.  And Target didn’t tell the entire story until several days later and even then seemed to manage the information it did release.  Often such announcements are made on slow news days in order to minimize the impact.

Use of credit cards and debit cards is so common, we rarely use cash at all. So, what should you do to protect your date from these on-going breaches that are happening on a regular basis?  Pay with cash only?  Probably not.

How to protect your financial information.

You simply cannot control the data once you provide it to a retailer but what you can do is make your data un-useable if it is stolen.  Perhaps one good idea might be to regularly change your credit card numbers by calling your credit card provider and telling them you lost your card.  They will take immediate action to in-activate the old number and provide you with a new one right away.  At the same time, any charges that come on that card will not be charged to you since you reported the card as lost.

This can be a bit of an inconvenience but it will be effective.

Let me know if you have any good ideas to protect your financial information.

 

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Chase Abusive On Debt Collection Of Credit Cards

Chase Sued For Abusive Debt Collection Of Credit Cards: And People Are Told Bankruptcy is bad?

In just one more incident of big banks or credit card companies using abusive methods on debt collection of credit cards, JPMorgan Chase was sued in California Court alleging that Chase committed abuses against tens of thousands of California consumers for debt collection credit cards.

These guys don’t care how they get their money.

According to California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, for about three years, between January 2008 and April 2011, Chase filed thousands of lawsuits each month to collect soured credit card debt, Ms. Harris said. On a single day, for example, Chase filed 469 lawsuits, court records show.  Ms. Harris said, Chase took shortcuts like relying on court documents that were not reviewed for accuracy. “To maintain this breakneck pace,” according to the lawsuit, Chase relied on “unlawful practices.”

Abuses are rampant.

JPMorgan Chase is already navigating a thicket of regulatory woes. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, one of the bank’s chief regulators, is preparing an enforcement action against the bank over the way it collects its credit card debt, according to several people close to the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the cases publicly.

Chase assembled a “debt collection mill that abuses the California judicial process,” according to the lawsuit. Many of the lawsuits filed rely on questionable or incomplete records, Ms. Harris said. “At nearly every stage of the collection process,” the bank “cut corners in the name of speed, cost savings and their own convenience,” she said.

Bankruptcy Is Just A business Tool To Help You Get Back On Track.

Bankruptcy is a business tool used by savvy people and businesses to help get back on track once debt becomes unmanageable.  Companies, sports and entertainment figures, and regular people all over the Country use bankruptcy for what it was intended to be used for: protect companies and individuals with too much debt and restore their ability to regain financial health and become a part of the economy once again. Don’t feel badly about using the tool for savvy people.

Todd Murphy is a NJ Bankruptcy Lawyer practicing in Somerville, NJ.  He can be reached at 862-217-2361.