Credit Scams Target Worriers

Looking for a Credit Card for Christmas Shopping? Before you submit a credit card application, first review the main points which will help you choose the right credit card for your needs.

What Charges You'll Make - If you're going to use the credit card mainly for booking airline reservations and hotels, it might be best for you to get a travel credit card that offers sky miles and hotel points or cashback. If this will be an emergency credit card only, then your main concern may be for a low interest rate credit card with low fees.

When You'll Repay Charges - Will you pay off credit card charges in full every month, or will you carry a balance month to month? If you're going to carry a balance, you want the lowest possible interest rate as well as a low introductory rate. But if you'll payoff balances in full every month, then interest rate really doesn't matter so no annual fee and/or a long grace period would be a bigger concern. If you're going to carry a balance, be concerned about how the finance charge is calculated. The most common method is the Average Daily Balance, which means that the daily balances are added together and then divided by the number of days in the billing cycle. Stay away from credit cards that compute the balance using two billing cycles, as this method costs more money in financing fees.

What Amount You'll Charge - If you're going to use the credit card for all your monthly expenses, then you need a card that has a high credit limit and a high cashback percentage.

More info about Interest Rates, Credit Limits, Incentives, Fees and Penalties

Interest Rates - The interest rate (Annual Percentage Rate) APR can either be a fixed rate or a variable rate that is tied to another financial indicator, most commonly the prime rate. With a fixed rate credit card you know what the interest rate will be every month, whereas a card with a variable rate can fluctuate. Of course, even the interest of a fixed rate card can change based on certain events, such as paying your credit card bill late, exceeding your limit, or simply because the credit card issuer decides to change it after providing you ample advance notice.

Credit Limit - This is the amount of money the credit card company will let you charge to the card. This amount varies depending upon the card offer and your credit history. Be sure to get a credit card with an ample limit, because getting close to your max can hurt your credit score. Just remember that you don't have to max out your limit just because it's available.

Incentives - To compete for and to gain customers, many credit card companies offer rewards. Even if you normally use cash, why not use your credit card and then use the cash to make the payment during the grace period? You still won't pay interest and meanwhile you'll rack-up rewards. A credit card with 5% cashback will earn you $5 for every $100 charged. If your total bills come to $2,000 per month, you'll earn a free $100 every month. Look for a rewards program that you'll use and which offers flexibility, such as cashback or travel.

Fees and Penalties - Compare common charges such as late fees, overlimit fees, balance transfers, cash advances, and for making payments by telephone. Regarding balance transfers, look for credit card offers with no transaction fees and zero percent interest for at least 12 months.

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Credit Scams Target Worriers

By Credit Federal | Published 10/9/2008

The internet; a great source of information, has become a beacon of advice for consumers worried over the credit crisis. Unfortunately, scam artists are forever seeking ways to get their hands into consumer wallets by stealing personal information.

To snare victims who are searching online for advice, cyber scammers create fake websites, send spam, use phishing attacks and malicious software code.

Prevent being a victim of identity theft and fraud. Here are the top tools used by scammers:

Spam and phishing. Most of the scams center on spam and phishing against the backdrop of bank failures, mergers and takeovers. Current and former customers of JPMorgan Chase and Washington Mutual are being inundated with phishing attempts as Chase navigates an acquisition of Washington Mutual. One example is an email that appears to come from Chase. It asks customers to go to what is purportedly a Chase website, but is a fake, and provide personal information such as user ID, password, name, address, phone number and Chase credit card number.

Fake websites. Many of the phishing attacks advise bank customers to click on links that go to websites which ask to update personal data.Citigroup (C) and Wachovia (WB) customers are among the targets, says Ori Eisen, chief innovation officer at The 41st Parameter, an anti-online-fraud vendor and former anti-fraud director at American Express. "People's life savings are at risk," says Andy Klein, an email expert at security vendor SonicWall. "Many are especially antsy because they haven't heard from their merged banks yet."

Targeted malware attacks against financial websites and consumer computers.

If you are not sure of the authenticity and identity of an email sender, phone caller or a website, be safe and do not proceed. It's better to dig through your account statements to verify the phone number and website addresses of your financial institutions.

Learn more about how to prevent and report credit fraud.

Think you're the victim of a financial scam? Check your credit report and consider placing a credit freeze.

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Credit Scams Target Worriers - by <a href=http://creditfederal.com>CreditFederal.com</a> <div style="text-align: left; font-family: Verdana;">The internet; a great source of information, has become a beacon of <a target='_top' href="http://creditfederal.com/question-answer-advice.html">advice</a> for consumers worried over the credit crisis. Unfortunately, <a target='_top' href="http://creditfederal.com/article/search?&Query=scam&SearchType=1&Categories=a:1:%7Bi:0;s:1:%220%22;%7D&searchWhat=a:3:%7Bi:0;s:14:%22searchArticles%22;i:1;s:10:%22searchNews%22;i:2;s:11:%22searchBlogs%22;%7D&searchField=a:1:%7Bi:0;s:11:%22searchTitle%22;%7D%22">scam</a> artists are forever seeking ways to get their hands into consumer wallets by stealing personal information. To snare victims who are searching online for advice, cyber scammers create fake websites, send spam, use phishing attacks and malicious software code. Prevent being a victim of <a target='_top' href="http://creditfederal.com/article/search?&Query=theft&SearchType=1&Categories=a:1:%7Bi:0;s:1:%220%22;%7D&searchWhat=a:3:%7Bi:0;s:14:%22searchArticles%22;i:1;s:10:%22searchNews%22;i:2;s:11:%22searchBlogs%22;%7D&searchField=a:1:%7Bi:0;s:11:%22searchTitle%22;%7D%22">identity theft</a> and <a target='_top' href="http://creditfederal.com/article/search?&Query=fraud&SearchType=1&Categories=a:1:%7Bi:0;s:1:%220%22;%7D&searchWhat=a:3:%7Bi:0;s:14:%22searchArticles%22;i:1;s:10:%22searchNews%22;i:2;s:11:%22searchBlogs%22;%7D&searchField=a:1:%7Bi:0;s:11:%22searchTitle%22;%7D%22">fraud</a>. Here are the top tools used by scammers: Spam and phishing. Most of the scams center on spam and phishing against the backdrop of bank failures, mergers and takeovers. Current and former customers of JPMorgan Chase and Washington Mutual are being inundated with phishing attempts as Chase navigates an acquisition of Washington Mutual. One example is an email that appears to come from Chase. It asks customers to go to what is purportedly a Chase website, but is a fake, and provide personal information such as user ID, password, name, address, phone number and Chase credit card number. Fake websites. Many of the phishing attacks advise bank customers to click on links that go to websites which ask to update personal data.Citigroup (C) and Wachovia (WB) customers are among the targets, says Ori Eisen, chief innovation officer at The 41st Parameter, an anti-online-fraud vendor and former anti-fraud director at American Express. "People's life savings are at risk," says Andy Klein, an email expert at security vendor SonicWall. "Many are especially antsy because they haven't heard from their merged banks yet." Targeted malware attacks against financial websites and consumer computers. If you are not sure of the authenticity and identity of an email sender, phone caller or a website, be safe and do not proceed. It's better to dig through your account statements to verify the phone number and website addresses of your financial institutions. Learn more about how to prevent and report <a target='_top' href="http://creditfederal.com/report-credit-fraud.html">credit fraud</a>. Think you're the victim of a financial scam? Check your <a target='_top' href="http://creditfederal.com/credit-report.html">credit report</a> and consider placing a <a target='_top' href="http://creditfederal.com/article/articles/475/1/Credit-Freeze">credit freeze</a>. </div> This article provided courtesy of <a href=http://creditfederal.com target=_new>www.CreditFederal.com</a>, a personal credit resource of good or bad credit credit cards and loans.

Credit Tip: Need a high limit for Christmas credit card charges? If you have bad credit, consider a personal loan by refinancing your mortgage. Even if you have cash to buy Christmas presents, we recommend using a prepaid card to make purchases because it's safer than carrying cash.