Archive for the ‘Credit Card’ Category:
Stolen Credit Card: What to Do Next
The credit card is one of those things that many of us have a hard time living without. It makes shopping simpler, and it allows us to reserve things like rental cars and hotel rooms with ease. But when your credit card is stolen, you might find yourself wondering why you liked that little piece of plastic so much.
Realistically, there’s not much to fear. Federal law mandates that credit card companies require cardholders to pay no more than $50 in fraudulent charges, and most don’t make them pay a red cent. But if you want to protect your credit, it’s crucial to deal with a stolen credit card quickly and properly. Here’s what to do if one of your cards is stolen.
1. Call your credit card issuer right away, as soon as you realize that your card is missing. Almost every credit card company has a 24-hour hotline for reporting stolen cards. You can find the phone number on your monthly statement or cardholder agreement. Reporting the missing card immediately reduces the likelihood that you will be held liable for any fraudulent charges.
2. Follow up with a letter to the card issuer. This is one of those things that needs to be in writing in case there is any question. In your letter, state the date and time when the card was stolen, when you reported it stolen, and the last authorized transaction. You’ll also need to include your account number, and it’s a good idea to add the name of the person to whom you reported the theft. Keep a copy for your records, and send the original to the card issuer via certified mail.
3. Report the theft to the local police. Let them know that you have already reported it to the credit card issuer, and provide details about who you talked to. They will also want to know when you last saw the card and where.
4. Keep an eye on your credit card statements. If you find any charges that you did not make, dispute them immediately. Don’t expect the card issuer to remove them automatically.
5. Check your credit report periodically. A stolen credit card doesn’t necessarily set you up for further identity theft, but if the thief got his hands on certain personal information as well, he could apply for credit in your name. You can get a free copy of your report from each of the three major credit bureaus once a year.
Having your credit card stolen is a frightening experience. But if you act quickly, you probably won’t have to pay any charges made by the thief. You can get a new card and be back to life as usual in no time.
An Introduction To How A Common Eliminate Credit Card Debt Scam Works
It is all too easy to fall for one or another eliminate credit card debt scam because the companies that perpetrate such scams know that people that are deeply in debt and who have no ready means available to help them break free of their debts will easily fall for any convincing argument. The essence of an eliminate credit card debt scam is that it lures its victims by promising to consolidate their debts and also guarantees to completely wipe out all your debts.
Who Should You Trust?
With so many different eliminate credit card debt scams abounding you need to be careful about whom you trust in order to eliminate your credit card debts. If you make the mistake of believing such outlandish claims you could find out the hard way that the road to eliminating credit card debts is long and difficult to travel upon.
The worst thing about falling for an eliminate credit card debt scam is that you will be charged a big amount of money to get some sort of service that is meant to ensure that you are able to wipe out your debts completely. Some of the more cleverly designed eliminate credit card debt scams even say that you can pay (the scammer’s fees) with your credit card because the scammer will ensure later that this fee will be eliminated without any trouble.
If you make the mistake of believing these very rosy claims you will lose your money and your peace of mind as well. One way of steering clear of eliminate credit card debt scams is to never respond to emails of an unsolicited nature that deal with your credit card debt. Instead, if you come across such emails you should get in touch with the FTC website (FTC.gov) or you can place a call to 1-8770FTCHELP. In addition, you should also file a complete report with the Better Business Bureau and even with the Attorney General in your state.
An example of a typical eliminate credit card debt scam might go like this: banks will not want to go to the extent or want to bear the expense of suing a defaulter and nor will they file a suit – fearing that by filing a suit the bank would be risking losing their banking charter.
You can see from the wording how good this sounds. But, these claims are certainly not true and if you fall for such lines you will certainly end up facing some very dire consequences. So, watch out!
There are of course thousands of people that are searching for effective help to eliminate credit card debts. Unfortunately, most of these people procrastinate and dilly-dally about seeking help and so will have missed many good opportunities to help them regain their financial health. It therefore pays to take timely action and seek help as soon as your debts start to mount.
A Look At The Right Way To Eliminate Unsecured Credit Card Debt
The main advantage that people that learn about how to eliminate unsecured credit card debt get is that they can learn to act in a manner that ensures that their credit scores improve and that they will also succeed in becoming free from the burden and stress of having unpaid credit card debts. In the present economic scenario too many people are using their credit cards indiscriminately and so are running up credit card debts that they are unable to pay off.
Walk On A New Path
There is much to be said in favor of managing, reducing as well as to eliminate unsecured credit card debt as the right actions will ensure that new paths will open up that will help you lead a life that is free from all kinds of debts.
To eliminate unsecured credit card debt you should start off by gathering information about all your credit cards and in addition you need to document all your outstanding balances. You can put this information into a spreadsheet on your computer and then perform a breakdown of the unsecured credit card debts to see how much you need to pay off.
Next, in order to eliminate unsecured credit card debt you have to review the outstanding balances to see which outstanding balances are more than sixty to ninety days old. These debts are often considered as bad receivables by your credit card company and for you it will represent a very costly debt to service because interest charged on such debts is very high.
You must therefore try and negotiate with your credit card company to see if they will settle for a one time pay off of the debt for an amount that is lower than the total outstanding debt. Sometimes, credit card companies will acquiesce to your requests if they feel that this is their only realistic hope of recovering their outstanding amounts.
You can also eliminate unsecured credit card debt by consolidating all the debts into a single debt that carries with it a lower rate of interest. This can be done by moving all the high interest unsecured credit card debts to a debt that carries with it lower interest rates. The end result of such a move is that you will close the high interest unsecured credit card debt and put it on a card that attracts lower interest rates and this means that your overall debt will be reduced.
Credit card debt elimination scams abound over the internet and also in the offline world as well. If you are not careful about how you go about eliminating your credit card debts you could easily be lured into believing that it is possible to easily consolidate your debts and even wipe them out completely, which is certainly not so easy if you do this elimination of credit card debts in a legal manner. So, you need to make it a point to not act in desperation and fall for scams; instead you need to research the legal options and use them to your advantage.
