What Is Credit Card Skimming
Do you have the keen eyes to see whether a clerk swiped your credit card into two card readers or just swiping twice in one card ready or not? Would you be able to avoid any upfront thievery in buying gasoline from stations? This type of theft usually comes from the usage of credit card skimmers that operate via stripping and swiping the magnetic strip of credit cards through them just simultaneously when you made a purchase. Smart thieves have devised plans in using these existing credit card strips without being caught of using them. Some of the information that these thieves are able to get from doing this are the card number, account holder name, address of the client and even the pin number that could be used and be accessed on a later time. From this information, thieves are able to make purchases by creating counterfeit and cloned credit cards.
Unfortunately, it is not uncommon to be able to get credit card skimming machines.
They can be looked for and be bought from the internet at 300 dollars a pop. Any aspiring thief that would like to skim credit cards would not hesitate to dish out 300 dollars to gain more than a few thousand more. It has been estimated that a total of $1 billion each year is lost to credit card theft. If you feel that you have been a victim of a fraud, you should know now that by the Truth in Lending Act, the limits of your liability amount to $50 in the event that your card has been either lost or stolen. But don’t ever think all cardholders do not pay for these petty crimes, because they are entitled to pay lots of finance and miscellaneous fees.
It is very important to track every bit of purchases you have committed from time to time to check whether there are any major discrepancies in the amount that you owe the bank. The sooner you are able to detect any fraudulent activity, the lesser the corresponding damage will be. You have to coordinate and work hand in hand with your bank to prevent any malicious activity related to credit card skimming.
Categories: Loan Articles Tags: able, Credit Card, credit card security, credit card skimming, credit card theft, lost, number, theft
Confessions of a Microfinance Heretic: How Microlending Lost Its Way and Betrayed the Poor
Confessions of a Microfinance Heretic: How Microlending Lost Its Way and Betrayed the Poor
Very little solid evidence exists that microloans make a dent in long-term poverty. Sadly, evidence does exist for negligence, corruption, and methods that border on extortion. Part exposé, part memoir, and part financial detective story, this is the account of a one-time true believer whose decade in the industry turned him into a heretic.
Hugh Sinclair worked with several microfinance institutions around the world. He couldn’t help but notice that even with a booming billion industry on their side, the poor didn’t seem any better off. Exorbitant interest rates led borrowers into never-ending debt spirals, and aggressive collection practices resulted in cases of forced prostitution, child labor, suicide, and nationwide revolts against the microfinance community.
Sinclair weaves a shocking tale of a system increasingly focused on maximizing profits—particularly once large banks got involved. He details his discovery of several scandals, one of the most disturbing involving a large African microfinance institution of questionable legality that charged interest rates in excess of 100 percent per year, and whose investors and supporters included some of the most celebrated leaders of the microfinance sector. Sinclair’s objections were first met with silence, then threats, attempted bribery, and a court case, and eventually led him to become a principle whistleblower in a sector that had lost its soul.
Microfinance can work—Sinclair describes moving experiences with several ethical and effective organizations and explains what made them different. But without the fundamental reforms that Sinclair recommends here, microfinance will remain an “investment opportunity” that will leave the poor with hollow promises and empty pockets.
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Categories: Loan Products Tags: Betrayed, Confessions, Heretic, lost, Microfinance, MicroLending, poor, Price, several