Divorce can be a tortuous affair, at best. However, it appears that it might just have got a whole lot worse.
Recent research suggests that more and more ex spouses are seeking retribution by taking out joint credit cards, car hire and equipment leasing after divorce. By using the name of their ex spouse they can then indulge in reckless spending or cause untold damage to equipment that has been leased. It’s kind of like the financial equivalent of taking a pair scissors to a wardrobe of clothes!
Often, only the true extent of the damage can be ascertained from your credit reference - obtained from the likes of Transunion, Experian and Equifax.
Fortunately, the law can help expunge marks on your credit score.
David Rubinger, spokesman for Equifax says “if your ex-spouse used your name and Social Security number to take out credit without your knowledge, that person has stolen your identity.” It doesn’t matter to a credit agency whether you have been the victim of credit fraud by a criminal, friend or ex spouse.
The key to reclaiming your credit history back is to report the situation immediately to the credit company and the credit referencing agencies. They will require you to fill in a full report to the police on the matter.
However, if you have a joint account that was created with your ex spouse before the divorce, then the situation is a little different
Experian spokesman Rod Griffin says. “If you have a joint account, you’re considered fully responsible for that debt,” It is still possible to file a dispute with reporting agencies who have 30 days to investigate the situation.
The common sense approach to this is to shut all joint accounts down when you divorce and be vigilant for a vengeful spouse looking to smear your credit record!
(Via USnews)
Anecdotal evidence suggests that parts of Spain are becoming hot spots for all manor of credit card fraud. This is further supported by news of 3,000 blocked credit cards by Bancaja.
The call to action took place after a wide scale fraud operation.
According to reports:
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Something I am getting asked about with greater regularity is how to manage a merchant account facility for e-commerce purposes. To be honest it’s a bit of a minefield and there are some solutions that work better than others.
One possible option is the package provided by UK based payment service provider - Axiar Payments.
The big question is what does this type of company actually add to the average e-commerce based business.
Here are some things to chew on:
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The City of London is the leading financial centre in the world. Ok New York doesn’t do badly either!!
But it appears that London may well be becoming a leading centre for fraud too.
According to the Debt Line:
“London has come top in the UK as the region that encounters the greatest amount of credit card fraud, in a new survey.
Some 367,335 cases were encountered in the last five years – more than double the amount experienced in the Midlands, according to InsureandGo.
The amount stolen on cards ranged to upwards of £4,000, highlighting the need for vigilance and card security.”
Interestingly Perry Wilson, a spokesperson for InsureandGo, commented: “As our research shows, holiday card fraud is a massive problem and is continuing to get worse.”
I can only concur that the only credit card fraud I have encountered was on holiday to Spain. Just make sure you never let your card out your site is my advice.
Identity theft has been a rapidly increasing problem in recent years. Often banks and credit card companies will send you all sorts of documents and applications (mostly not requested) only for it to be put in the trash. That was until we were told to tear up all these documents on the premise that this would help protect against identity fraud.
Well, according to (NBC News) you can think again.
“With five applications, and a little muscle, we started ripping. Scotch taped them back together. And wrote around the tape filling out the application the way an identity thief might if he’d been digging in our garbage.
The result is a messy, crooked, patchwork each time. Who would possibly give a credit card based on this type of application?
The answer: Some of the biggest banks in America. Of our five taped-up applications, three returned new credit cards to us - lines of credit worth more than 21-thousand dollars.”
According to KSL.com:
In a statement, chase card services says it has “rigorous policies” for handling applications and a “special handling process” for the rare torn applications. In this case, however, “it is clear to us our procedures were not entirely followed for this particular application...and we are investigating.”
For the two cards it issued, Bank of America, which merged with MBNA, says the applications “both went through the proper verification processes” and that “the signature, social security number and birth date matched” a (current) customer with excellent credit.
I guess, the moral of this story is to invest in a cross shredder!
